


Maybe, Just Maybe

by dS_Tiff



Category: due South
Genre: Angst, Crime Solving, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-21
Updated: 2012-01-21
Packaged: 2017-10-29 22:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 28,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/324630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dS_Tiff/pseuds/dS_Tiff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stella Kowalski is in trouble so she turns to the only person she can trust to help her...Ray. The thing is, with Ray and Stella, they just know they're both going to end up getting hurt, but still they can't help themselves. Thank goodness for Fraser.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maybe, Just Maybe

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set in the middle of Season 4 of due South. I hope you enjoy it!

“Let me get this straight in my head Fraser,” Detective Ray Kowalski sighed as he walked along the street with Constable Benton Fraser, his best friend and unofficial partner. “We, er, that is you tasted that stuff on the guy's shoes and then, no, hang on...er, that was after we'd chased that other bozo half way across town, er...” The sun was bright this morning and Ray squinted in the light and scratched his head as he thought about the events that had led to the arrest of Juan Lorenzo, big time arms dealer and part time drug smuggler.

“Ray, you're due in court tomorrow. If you are having trouble recalling the events, you realise it could have serious repercussions on the outcome of the case for the prosecution,” Fraser rubbed at his left eyebrow as he spoke.

“Buddy, when it's Stella doin' the prosecutin' I get all, well, er, y'know...” Ray replied with a shrug.

“Stella is on our side Ray,” Fraser reminded him, not that he really needed reminding, but Fraser knew exactly how Ray was around his ex-wife. Her presence made him uncomfortable for many reasons and in the courtroom there was already enough pressure on the arresting officer. Ray had to stay cool under cross examination by Lorenzo's defence attorney and he didn't need the added personal stress.

“Yeah I know Fraser,” Ray agreed, “but I'm sure she gets a kick outta questionin' me under oath, like, er, like she's just waitin' for me to screw up.”

Fraser put his hand on his buddy's shoulder and stopped him in his tracks, spinning Ray around to face him. “Ray, Stella is as keen as we are to see Mr Lorenzo behind bars,” Fraser said seriously, “the purpose of this meeting today is for you to run through everything with Stella to ensure that a guilty verdict is achieved. A lot of people died because of the actions of Juan Lorenzo and Stella has to present a watertight case. Your deposition is key to that. This is no different to the Bennett trial last week other than it being Stella's case and not Assistant States Attorney Statham's.”

Ray shrugged. “I know, I know it's stupid,” he sighed, “it's stupid that my ex-wife can still...she can still...” Ray couldn't quite put it into words, but Fraser understood and he nodded silently.

“Come along Ray,” said Fraser, releasing his friend from his grasp and continuing along the street towards Stella's office building. He spotted the horse drawn taxi that could often be seen around Chicago giving rides to tourists and he waved to the driver. “Good day to you Herman!”

Herman waved back. “Hello Constable,” he said and returned to fastening the reigns of one of his horses, who was doing his best to make it difficult for the man. The other horse was already attached to the carriage and a young couple were sitting in the carriage with their arms around each other, smiling as they looked forward to a ride around the city.

Fraser and Ray began climbing the steps of the States Attorney's Office. “Let's get this over with Fraser,” said Ray, watching as Diefenbaker bounded up the steps ahead of them. “So d'ya think you'll, er, have to...” but he was interrupted by a man bursting out of the door and running down the steps towards his waiting car, closely followed by Stella Kowalski, who was yelling at the top of her voice at the man. Ray and Fraser were shocked at the scene, but they were even more shocked when Stella got close enough for them to be able to see her face. There was blood pouring from a cut just below her right eye with other small abrasions all over her face and her left eye socket was rapidly turning an ugly shade of yellowy purple. She hadn't seen Ray and was stunned when he reached out and grabbed her arm. “Stella, what happened?” asked Ray, appalled at her appearance.

“Leave it Ray,” she instructed, shaking herself free from his grasp and abruptly turning away from him.

“Stella,” began Fraser, passing her his handkerchief for the blood and glancing over his shoulder towards the sound of screeching tyres as the car pulled away, “did that man...” but Fraser didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as Ray immediately drew his gun and aimed it at the car. “Ray, no!” shouted Fraser, but it was too late and Ray fired off two shots. Of course he wasn't wearing his glasses so both bullets missed his intended target of the tyres and instead skidded harmlessly across the tarmac.

Unfortunately the two horses, already spooked by the noise of the car racing away, were completely startled by the sound of gunfire and just as Fraser had predicted, both animals reared up onto their hind legs. Herman hadn't finished buckling the second horse's harness and she quickly broke free from the carriage, although Herman still had a hold of the reigns and was able to bring her under control. The other horse however bolted off, pulling the carriage behind it with the young couple clinging onto each other for dear life. Fraser raced off after it with Dief at his heels. Ray took one more look at Stella who's mouth was open in bewilderment. “Stay here!” he yelled and he ran down the steps after Fraser.

Vehicles swerved to avoid the runaway horse and Fraser was amazed that there were no serious collisions, but now with cars all over the road, the animal was blocked in and could see no means of escape. She reared up again almost tipping the carriage over and the passengers both screamed. Fraser could see the fear in the poor animal's eyes as he finally caught up with her, not quite able to believe that the carriage had stayed upright. “Stay back!” he instructed, as much to Dief as to the passers by who had gathered to watch the chaos. Then, trying not to make any sudden movements, he quickly unbuttoned his navy blue overcoat and removed it as he approached the startled animal, making soothing noises as he got closer. With his coat over one arm, he held out his other hand with the palm face upwards, all the while talking in a low, gentle voice. The horse had visibly calmed now, but was still clearly very agitated. Fraser stepped closer now, taking his overcoat from his arm and carefully throwing it over the horses head, covering her eyes and almost immediately calming the animal. “Good girl,” soothed Fraser as he grabbed hold of the horse's reigns, taking them in a firm grasp. He patted the horse gently. “It's alright now,” he whispered as the crowd began to clap and cheer.

“You OK buddy?” called out a concerned Ray who had caught up to the scene now with Herman leading the other horse. Ray ran to the young couple and helped them out of the carriage. They were both shaking with fear.

“We're fine thank you Ray,” smiled Fraser as he fished in the pocket of his red tunic and produced a carrot. He slipped his overcoat from the horse's head and the animal keenly began to eat the carrot from Fraser's hand.

“Er, Fraser,” began a slightly puzzled Ray, satisfied now that the young couple were OK apart from being very shaken. He crossed to stand next to his partner. “Where'd ya get that carrot from?”

“From my pocket Ray,” replied Fraser, matter of factly.

“Oh,” nodded Ray, not quite sure if he was the only person in the world who thought that was kind of odd.

“Is everyone alright?” enquired Fraser, looking back at Herman who was refunding the couple the money they'd paid for their ride.

“Yeah, I think so,” nodded Ray. “Um, sorry,” he added, sheepishly, “I guess that was kinda my fault, huh?”

“It's alright Ray,” Fraser said reassuringly, “there doesn't appear to be any serious harm done.” He glanced over to a yellow taxi cab that had driven straight into a set of traffic lights whilst trying to avoid the runaway horse. “Although you may wish to go and talk to that cab driver,” he added, looking around, “and that gentlemen there who appears to have some minor damage to his front fender...and also that young woman who's rear door has sustained some slightly more serious damage and...”

“OK Fraser!” Ray's face fell. Welsh was gonna have something to say about this and it wasn't going to be pretty. He patted the horse. It's a good job I love animals, he thought to himself, somewhat sarcastically.

“How is Stella?” asked Fraser.

Ray drew a sharp breath. “Stella!” In all the confusion he'd forgotten that he'd left his ex-wife sitting battered and bruised on the steps. He ran to the kerb and looked back towards Stella's office building, but she wasn't there any more. “She was right there Fraser, she's gone!” He ran few paces along the pavement in the opposite direction, just to see if he could spot her, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Fraser handed the reigns of the horse back to a very grateful Herman and crossed to join his partner. Ray looked at him and shook his head. “Don't worry Ray,” Fraser half smiled, “we'll find her.”

“Did ya get the licence plate?” Ray asked.

“Yes Ray,” confirmed the Mountie, passing his thumbnail over his eyebrow, “so I suggest we return to the station so that Francesca can at least tell us who's vehicle that was.”

“Yeah, er, yeah,” agreed Ray, who was becoming more and more agitated now. “Then we'll go and pick up the creep who beat up my wife...er, ex-wife.”

Fraser raised an eyebrow at Ray's little slip-up just then. He nodded at his partner. “Right you are.”

xXx

Ray pushed the rice around on his plate with his fork. Fraser looked at him with concern. "Ray, you need to eat," he said, but Ray just scowled at him. "I'm sure she's fine," continued Fraser, reassuringly, "Stella is perfectly capable of looking after herself."

"Fraser we've been lookin' for her all afternoon," replied Ray in a worried tone, "you saw her face."

Fraser nodded, he was as concerned about her injuries as Ray. "Ray, I don't believe that Stella wants us to find her," he pointed out, "she was none too happy when she saw us earlier. I imagine she sought first aid assistance and went home."

"We went to her apartment Fraser, she wasn't there. She's not at her office and she's not answerin' her cell..." Ray threw his fork down onto his plate. "Sorry buddy, thanks for cookin' this, er, this..."

"Risotto," Fraser prompted.

“Yeah, risotto, right,” nodded Ray. “It's good, but I'm just not hungry.”

“You haven't been hungry for four days,” Fraser pointed out with a frown. “What with your concerns over the Lorenzo trial and now this...”

“Jeez Fraser, the trial!” exclaimed Ray. His worries over Stella had taken over and he'd completely forgotten about the trial. “She'd better show up before tomorrow or, er, the whole case could be in jeopardy. Lorenzo's got that creep McAstin defendin' him. He only needs one tiny thing like this and he'll get the whole case thrown out.”

“Ray I'm sure it won't come to that,” suggested Fraser, “Stella is nothing if not professional. She'll be here, don't worry.”

Just then, Diefenbaker leapt up from his spot at Ray's feet, where he usually lay during mealtimes as he was guaranteed a secret treat and ran barking towards the door. Ray looked at Fraser, puzzled, but then he heard the knock at the door and got up from his seat to go and answer it. He was surprised but pleased to see Stella standing there. He just stood there for a minute, staring at her. “Ray,” began Stella, “um, I'm, um...” she sighed.

“Stell? What is it?” asked Ray, still holding his front door open. “What happened to you?”

“Ray I'm in trouble, big trouble,” Stella whispered. “I need your help.” She couldn't quite bring herself to look Ray in the eye as she spoke. She wasn't used to asking for help. She waited a moment for Ray to reply, but he was just staring at her. “So? Are we going to talk about this here, or can I come in?”

“Oh, yeah,” Ray shook his head, trying to focus, “er, come in. You OK?” He reached out a hand towards her face, but stopped just short of touching her and quickly dropped his hand to his side.

“It's not as bad as it looks,” Stella replied quietly as she stepped into Ray's apartment. Then she noticed Fraser's red tunic draped over the arm of the sofa and her face fell. “Oh, the Mountie's here,” she said, bowing her head.

“Yeah, yeah he is,” replied Ray, glancing over his shoulder at Fraser who was now on his feet. “Stella we've been out lookin' for ya, where'd ya go? We've been worried about ya.” Fraser walked over to join them now. He'd overheard the whole conversation of course.

“I went to a coffee house,” Stella explained. “The barista gave me some ice and a band aid and a free coffee. I guess he felt sorry for me. I made that Americano last three hours.” She glanced uncomfortably at Fraser.

“Um, I'll leave you two alone to talk,” said Fraser, squinting at Stella's face, “but first I'd like to tend to your injuries, if you'll allow me to. I'm particularly concerned about that laceration below your eye.”

Ray looked at Stella. If Fraser was concerned then he was concerned. “Please Stella, let Fraser take care of ya, then ya can tell me what the hell's goin' on.” Stella drew a breath and let it out slowly, nodding in agreement as she did so. Then she began to tremble and her breathing became more shallow and rapid. “Stella?” said Ray, suddenly concerned and grabbing her by the arm for support. “Fraser, what's wrong with her?” Ray started to panic.

“D...d...dizzy,” Stella breathed, by way of explanation.

Fraser took a firm hold of Stella's other arm and he and Ray led her to the sofa. “It's alright, I believe you're experiencing a delayed reaction,” Fraser tried to reassure them as they gently laid Stella down and Fraser swung her legs up onto the sofa, pulling off her shoes. “It's just shock, you'll be fine. Ray, please fetch a blanket.”

Ray's eyes were still wide. He was struggling to take in seeing Stella like this. Weak and vulnerable. “Yeah sure,” he mumbled, heading off towards his bedroom as Fraser lifted Stella's legs, raising her feet on a pile of cushions.

“I'm s...s...sorry,” Stella stammered, through erratic breaths. “I sh...sh...shouldn't have run off earlier.”

Fraser checked her pulse, it was racing. “You don't have to apologise,” he assured her, “take some deep breaths, you're going to be fine.”

Ray quickly returned with a blanket and covered Stella with it. She closed her eyes and tried to regain her composure. “You OK?” asked Ray.

“Mmmm,” replied Stella as her breathing slowly began to return to normal, much to everyone's relief. “I'm fine Ray, thank you.” She flashed a tiny smile at Ray and it sent a surge of feelings coursing through him. Feelings that he thought he'd forgotten about. Feelings that he never imagined he could have again, especially not about Stella. Maybe Stella saw something in his eyes, Ray couldn't be sure, but her smile quickly faded and she turned her head slightly to look at Fraser. “You mentioned something about fixing up my face?” she prompted.

“Yes, yes of course,” agreed Fraser, getting to his feet. “Ray if you'd be kind enough to furnish me with your car keys, I'll retrieve the first aid kit from the trunk. The one in your bathroom is, well, it's inadequate.”

“Why doesn't that surprise me?” muttered Stella, rolling her eyes. Fraser was shocked at the tone of her voice and he felt guilty for having given Stella the opportunity to put Ray down like that. Ray bit hard on his lower lip to prevent himself from giving her the satisfaction of a response. He couldn't believe how her manner could have changed like that in just a few seconds. Perhaps he'd been wrong about her just now? At least she was feeling better, more like her old self, he thought.

“Here,” Ray tossed his car key to his partner. Fraser nodded once in acknowledgement and headed down to fetch the first aid kit.

“So, ya gonna tell me, er, how ya got into this mess?” Ray asked as soon as the door clicked shut behind Fraser.

“For God's sake Ray, give me a minute,” snapped Stella, “I nearly passed out just now.” Ray nodded, again forcing himself to remain silent as he struggled now to retain any empathy or compassion for her situation. They stayed silent for the next few minutes until Fraser returned.

As he walked back into Ray's apartment, Fraser immediately sensed the atmosphere between the two. He thought the best thing to do was to tend to Stella's injuries as quickly as possible so that he could leave them to talk privately. He knelt down beside the sofa and began unpacking the first aid equipment in silence, glancing up at Ray for a clue as to what was going on, but his partner was giving nothing away, mainly because Ray himself didn't really have a clue what was going on. Fraser opened a packet of sterile gloves and put them on, then he removed the small dressing from the deep cut on Stella's face. Stella winced slightly. “Sorry,” said Fraser. He carefully began cleaning the wound, but his brow furrowed with concern. “Ray, could you bring that lamp over here please,” he asked, nodding towards the floor lamp in the corner of Ray's apartment. Ray caught Fraser's look and quickly complied with his request. “Stella, am I right in thinking that these cuts were caused by a broken drinking glass?” Fraser asked as he adjusted the angle of the light, causing Stella to squint.

“Yes, why? What is it?” replied Stella, a little nervously.

“Ray, do you have your glasses?” enquired Fraser.

“Er, yeah, here,” Ray produced his glasses from his pocket and passed them to Fraser.

Fraser held the glasses a few inches from Stella's face and used one of the lenses to magnify his view of the injury. “Ah,” he said.

“Fraser don't 'ah',” sneered Ray. Now he was really worried.

“Stella,” began Fraser, placing Ray's glasses on the table and moving the light away. Stella blinked deeply. “I'm afraid there is a fragment of glass embedded in the wound. I suggest we get you to the hospital so that it can be removed.”

“No,” snapped Stella. “No hospitals.”

“Stella, I don't know what's goin' on,” began Ray, his nostrils flaring as he tried to control his agitation, “but ya gotta take care of yourself. This guy smashed a glass in ya face...”

“The glass was an accident,” Stella interrupted him, “I'm not going to the hospital, there'll be too many questions. Fraser can you remove it?”

Fraser thought for a moment and glanced at Ray. “I believe so,” he replied, “but I would seriously recommend that you allow us to take you to the hospital. I can offer you very little in terms of pain relief and I'm afraid you will experience some discomfort.”

“Look, if you knew what had happened, you'd understand,” replied Stella, swallowing hard. “Please Fraser,” she continued, her voice much softer now, “please just do it.”

Fraser looked across at Ray again and coated his lower lip with his tongue. Ray tried to smile at Stella. She was obviously in serious trouble and he wanted to help her if he could. “Hey Stell,” he said softly, “ya can squeeze my hand if ya want to, y'know, if it really hurts bad.”

Stella glared up at him. “I'm not a baby Ray,” she snapped.

Ray immediately got to his feet, taking shallow breaths through clenched teeth. “Oh yeah, I, er, I forgot,” he snapped back, sarcastically, “The Stella doesn't feel pain.” With that he stormed off into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him, but not after Dief had bounded into the room with him.

Stella looked at Fraser who had watched Ray go. “Why does he always do that to himself?” she asked, genuinely puzzled.

Fraser regarded her for a moment while he contemplated his reply. He could see in her eyes that she really didn't understand why Ray had reacted like that. Stella didn't appear to realise that the way she spoke to Ray hurt him so much. She wasn't being cruel when she said things like that, it seemed to Fraser now that it was just her way...perhaps it was how she dealt with her own feelings? Perhaps it was difficult for her having to see her ex-husband all the time at work after the bitterness of their break up? It was certainly difficult for Ray, Fraser thought. He suddenly felt a level of compassion towards her that he'd never felt before. He also felt a flash of hope for Ray as perhaps if he and Stella could actually come to an understanding about this, they could both start to move on with their lives and Fraser knew only too well how much Ray needed to move on from Stella. “He's worried about you,” Fraser tried to explain as he redirected the light onto her face again. “You came here to ask for his help. Now take a deep breath, exhale slowly and try to hold still.”

“Hmmm,” agreed Stella as Fraser moved towards her with Ray's glasses in one hand and a pair of tweezers in the other hand. She could see the tip of Fraser's tongue protruding slightly from his lips as he concentrated on the delicate task in hand and for a fleeting moment she thought he looked...but, no...God no, Fraser? She knew that other women...well, she'd never understood what they all saw in the meddling, irritating Canadian and she wasn't about to change her mind now. Her thoughts were broken suddenly and her whole body stiffened as Fraser removed the tiny fragment of glass. Suddenly wished she hadn't sent Ray away as tears stung her eyes.

“There, all done,” said Fraser, pressing down on some gauze to stem the fresh blood. He flashed her a small smile, he knew that had to have been very painful for Stella and he admired her bravery.

“Thank you,” she said, quietly, trying not to let him see her wiping away tears. They weren't just because her face hurt, they were for Ray, for her failed marriage, for everything that had happened to her in the past few months that she needed to deal with. She'd come here to talk to Ray because he was the one person she thought she could trust with this and now he was sulking in his room like a kid again.

“This probably needs stitches Stella, but I'll try to make do without. Then I'll leave you and Ray alone,” said Fraser. He could see that Stella was struggling to retain her composure. Stella gave a single, silent nod in acknowledgement.

In Ray's room, Ray was sitting on his bed, his knees tucked up tightly under his chin with his arms wrapped around his legs. He tilted his head slightly and looked at Diefenbaker who was staring at him. “What ya lookin' at?” he said quietly. Dief responded with a yap. Ray smiled. “I bet Fraser could tell me what ya just said,” he whispered. He hoped that it was something supportive and not something along the lines of 'Pull yourself together Kowalski'. “Thing is Dief, I should be over this now, right? After all this time, she, er, she still has this, um, I dunno, what is it? It's like whatever she says and whatever she does....” Ray trailed off and sighed, he didn't even know what he was trying to say himself. He couldn't explain it. Stella had come to ask for his help and yet, even though she was in trouble, she still had time to make him feel stupid and useless. "What am I gonna do Dief?" Ray sighed and returned to staring at the end of his bed.

He heard the knock at his door, but said nothing. He knew it would be Fraser. "Ray?" Fraser's voice was low. "Ray, I, um, I've finished now so I guess I'll be going." Ray leapt off the bed and ran to open his bedroom door. he stood and watched as his partner peeled off his gloves, still unable to say anything. Fraser frowned with concern. He glanced over his shoulder and then back to Ray and lowered his voice even more. "You alright?" Ray just shrugged. "Um, Stella needs you," Fraser added.

"I know," replied Ray under his breath.

A few minutes later Fraser handed Stella a steaming hot cup of tea. “It's chamomile and ginger,” he said. Stella turned her nose up in disgust. “May I suggest that you at least try it, it should take away some of your discomfort.” Stella shrugged and sipped at the tea. Fraser smiled. “I imagine I'll see you in court tomorrow?” he said, as he picked up his red tunic.

“Oh, the Lorenzo trial,” sighed Stella, “I could really do without that.”

“Me too,” agreed Ray and Stella sneered at him.

“Perhaps if you speak to the judge, you may be able to request a postponement, under the circumstances,” suggested Fraser.

“No,” Stella shook her head, “this is a watertight case. We have plenty of evidence and several reliable witnesses...plus Ray of course,” she laughed at her own joke at Ray's expense. “It'll all be over in a few hours.”

“Understood,” replied Fraser, buttoning up his tunic.

“See ya buddy,” grinned Ray, who was also drinking tea. He was getting used to the taste and he had to admit that Fraser was right about some of the properties of the various blends. Fraser nodded, put on his hat and headed towards the door with Dief at his heels.

“Fraser wait,” Stella called out suddenly. Fraser stopped and turned back towards the sofa. “I've been thinking,” she continued, “um, I've made a big mistake, a career-ending, life changing mistake and...and I'll understand if you don't want to help me when you hear what I've done, but...I think... I think I'm going to need all the friends I can get. Please...please stay.”

Fraser glanced at Ray and Ray closed his eyes briefly and nodded. Fraser didn't want to get involved if Ray didn't want him to, but Ray had already realised from the tone in her voice that Stella really was in trouble and he knew that the best way that he could help her was with Fraser. This was what he and Fraser did best, they were a duet. This had nothing to do with his marriage, this was about helping a friend and despite everything that had happened between them, Ray really couldn't bear the thought of losing Stella as a friend. “Stell, what did ya do? Who was that creep?” Ray asked, “We, er, we ran his licence plate and it was a stolen car? What have ya gotten yourself mixed up in?”

Fraser placed his hat on the table and sat himself down on the sofa the other side Stella. Stella felt suddenly very safe sat between Ray and Fraser. A faint glimmer of hope slipped into her mind, maybe she could sort this out after all? She took a deep breath and looked into her teacup. “I've been seeing someone,” she began. Ray resisted the urge to say anything.

“The man who did this to you?” enquired Fraser gently.

Stella nodded. “Today was the first time I've ever seen him get angry,” she said, “he's actually a very sweet man.” Again Ray bit his tongue and Fraser glared at him. “His name is Ronald Tyler and I met him at work,” Stella continued, “that is to say, I met him, um...” her voice trailed off.

“What, he was a client?” asked Ray, “You've been datin' a client, is that it?” Ray knew how unprofessional that situation would be.

“No Ray,” replied Stella, her voice much quieter now, “it's, um, it's more complicated than that.” She stopped to take another breath. “Actually I was representing his wife, um, his ex-wife. She was divorcing him and she wanted half of their jewellery store business. He was contesting her claim.”

“Jeez Stella!” Ray wasn't able to restrain himself now. “Ya were datin' a guy ya were prosecutin'? Tell me the case was over before ya, y'know...”

Stella hung her head in shame. “I wish I could tell you that Ray,” she whispered, “but it would be a lie.”

“Did you win the case, or did he?” Fraser enquired.

Ray sneered at him. “What the hell difference does that make Fraser?” he asked.

“Because Ray,” Stella jumped in, “if I had lost the case and it later came to light that Ron and I were seeing each other, that would look very bad for me. Even worse than it already does.”

“Oh yeah, I guess,” nodded Ray.

“Well as it happens I won and he lost,” Stella explained.

“I see,” Fraser rubbed at his left eyebrow with his thumb, “well in that case Stella, although your superiors may frown upon your relationship with Mr Tyler from a moral standpoint, I'm not sure that they could fire you? You were however seriously assaulted by this man today, I assume you intend to press charges? May I enquire as to the circumstances leading to him attacking you?”

Stella reached into the pocket of her trousers and pulled out a small jewellery box. For one horrifying moment Ray thought it contained a ring, but Stella snapped open the lid to reveal a pair of diamond earrings. “He gave me these last week,” she said. “At first I was delighted with them, I thought they were beautiful.”

“I still don't get it?” said Ray.

“They're fake Ray,” said Stella, handing the box to Fraser. “Am I right Fraser?”

Fraser took one of the earrings from the box and held it up to the light between his thumb and forefinger, twisting it from left to right. “Yes,” agreed Fraser, “they're rather excellent fakes though.” He handed the earring back to Stella. “I'm sorry, I'm still not sure I understand.”

“I don't think he knows,” she replied, “I confronted Ron about these today as soon as I realised and he went crazy. He said these jewels had been in his family for three generations and I was insulting his family business. That's when he...” she gingerly brought one hand up to her face. “It's just a theory Ray, but I think his ex-wife knew all about this and I've somehow been used as a pawn in her game. Some of the things she said to me just didn't add up.”

“Why didn't you investigate those anomalies at the time?” Fraser asked.

“I don't know?” shrugged Stella, “maybe I got too wrapped up in her story. Sylvia Tyler threw me a very convincing sob story and I fell for it. I thought she deserved half the business after twelve years of marriage. It was a very strange situation for me to be in.”

“Wait a minute,” said Ray, puzzled. “You won and this Tyler guy lost half his business and yet he still wanted to, er, date ya? Why didn't he go crazy then? He still wanted to date the lawyer who, um, destroyed his family business?”

“Ray, by that stage we were already...well, we were already very close,” Stella tried to explain, “he was aware that he would most likely lose. I had plenty of strong evidence that his jewellery store would have closed down six years ago if his wife hadn't kept the business running. She is a very smart business woman. Too smart, I realise that now. I don't know how these fake diamonds fit into all of this, but I think she's been involved in some sort of fraud for years. Trouble is I can't quite work out what she's been doing?”

“Why would she be so keen to keep her half of a business she's been defrauding?” Fraser was confused. Stella shrugged.

“Woah, wait, go back a minute,” Ray said suddenly. “You two were close? How close? Were ya sleeping with him?”

“Ray...” began Fraser, keen to spare Stella any unnecessary embarrassment, but Stella interrupted him.

“It's alright Fraser,” she snapped, she didn't like the fact the he felt the need to defend her honour, not in the Twentieth Century, “yes Ray, Ron and I had a sexual relationship. Do you have a problem with that?” Ray's nostrils were flaring with anger now. He was determined not to react. “I wanted to wait until after the trial was over, but Ron can be...” Stella paused, trying to think of the best way to complete that sentence. She could feel the colour in her cheeks deepen. “He can be very persuasive,” she said finally.

“What?” Ray frowned, “how persuasive? What d'ya mean? Ya mean ya said no and he did it anyway? Did he rape ya?”

“Ray!” exclaimed Stella, “what the hell are you talking about? He did not rape me? You're being ridiculous, that's not what I meant at all! Don't you dare twist my words Ray. The nature of my relationship with Ron is not the issue here. I agree it complicates things, but the real issue is whether I've been defending someone while they carried out criminal activity. I could get fired Ray. Weird stuff was going on and I ignored it because of my personal feelings.”

“May I suggest that we all calm down,” Fraser tried to cool the situation. “Would anybody like more tea?”

“No Fraser, I would not like more tea,” insisted Ray, jumping up and gesticulating wildly. “I want to get to the bottom of this. Some violent bastard beat ya today Stella and don't, er, don't tell me how sweet he is again, not when ya just told me he forced ya into havin' sex with him!” Ray turned away and ran his fingers through his spiky hair, standing with his other hand on his hip and breathing heavily.

“For God's sake Ray, you're twisting this!” Stella tried to get to her feet too, but suddenly felt dizzy again.

Immediately, Fraser was by her side, steadying her by the elbow. “Alright?” he enquired with concern, lowering her gently back down onto the sofa. Stella nodded. “Ray, please come and sit with Stella. I'll make that tea.”

Ray spun round and was about to say something he'd most likely regret later when he saw Fraser checking Stella's pulse and he realised how pale She had become again. “You OK Stell?”

“I'm fine,” she replied, trying to muster a smile. They sat in silence while Fraser made the tea. Ray wasn't sure whether he should apologise or not. He didn't think he'd done anything to apologise for really, but he knew that sometimes with Stella the best thing was to let her think you were sorry, even if you weren't.

Fraser returned with three cups of tea. “Here,” he handed one cup to Stella, “I've made it slightly stronger for you this time,” he explained, “it will make you feel better.”

“Thank you,” she replied in a shaky voice. “I do appreciate what you've done for me today, both of you,” she continued. “I realise that you Mounties have a particular moral code...”

“You may have been misled,” Fraser interrupted her and Ray grinned. Fraser took a deep breath. “Stella, it is not for me or anyone else to judge you, or your choices or actions regarding your personal life,” he said, “I promise I will do everything I can to help you and ensure that anyone partaking in criminal activity is brought to justice.”

“Yeah, me too,” added Ray with a smile. Stella smiled too and nodded.

“I would recommend that you do not return to your apartment tonight though,” Fraser continued, “I don't think you should be alone. Your health is giving me some concern and we don't know whether Mr Tyler intends to contact you again. You are most welcome to stay at the Consulate, Constable Turnbull...”

“It's OK buddy, she can stay here,” Ray said quickly, before Fraser had a chance to finish what he was saying. “We've still gotta talk about the, er, the Lorenzo trial so, um we could do that before we turn in? Don't worry Stell, I'll take the sofa.”

Stella wasn't sure what to say. The last place on earth she wanted to spend the night was at the Canadian Consulate. Fraser was bearable in small doses and he had been kind to her today, but she always had to resist the urge to slap Constable Turnbull every time she saw him and Inspector Thatcher and her had never seen eye to eye on anything. On the other hand, the prospect of staying here with Ray was admittedly a little weird, but strangely comforting at the same time. “Thank you Ray, we do need to run through a few things before we go to court tomorrow. I'll stay here if that's OK with you.”

Ray's heart skipped a beat at her words. He didn't really know why. Well, he did of course, but it didn't make any sense to him, not after all this time. In recent months it had been so hard to be in the same room as Stella, there always seemed to be this atmosphere between them and they struggled to be civil to each other most of the time. He was determined that tonight would be good for both of them. They'd talk about Lorenzo and then they'd get a good night's sleep and tomorrow, once the trial was over, he and Fraser could pick up the bastard that hurt Stella and start to check out Sylvia Tyler.

“Well I should be going,” smiled Fraser, placing his empty teacup on the table. He wasn't at all comfortable leaving the two of them alone all night, but he knew he had to trust his friend. Maybe it would do both of them some good? Perhaps they would finally get an opportunity to talk about things that they should have talked about a long time ago? Perhaps if Ray and Stella could just get through the next few hours without being at each other's throats then that would be a start. “Stella, take it easy, get plenty of rest and you'll be fine in the morning.” Fraser put on his tunic as he spoke and Stella nodded.

“Thanks buddy,” said Ray, following him to the door.

“Are you going to be alright?” Fraser asked in a low voice so that Stella wouldn't hear.

“Yeah, course,” grinned Ray. “We're good, greatness.”

Fraser nodded. “Call me if you need anything,” he added, placing his hat squarely on his head. Ray nodded and closed the door behind his friend. He turned and looked at Stella sitting on his sofa and took a deep breath, trying to clear his head which had started to spin.

Fraser walked down the hall of Ray's building with Dief at his heels, but then he suddenly stopped, spun around and headed back towards Ray's apartment. Dief barked and Fraser stopped dead in his tracks. “Tell me you're not as concerned as I am?” he said to his wolf. Dief yapped a reply. “Ray's all over the place, emotionally I mean, do you honestly think this is a good idea?” Dief barked and whined. “Well, thank you for pointing that out,” snapped Fraser, sarcastically. “I agree I may not be the best person to ask when it comes to matters of the heart...” Dief barked again. “That's enough Dief!” hissed Fraser. Dief just looked at him. “Alright,” Fraser turned round again and headed for the stairs again, shaking his head, “clearly you have all the answers, but you can deal with any fallout in the morning.” He and Diefenbaker walked briskly out into the street and headed back to the Consulate.

XxX

It was just past midnight but Ray couldn't sleep. He was too hot in his sleeping bag so he unzipped it half way and rolled over, closed his eyes and tried to drift off, but it was no good. He couldn't stop thinking about Stella. He got up from the sofa and wandered over to the bedroom door, pressing his ear to it, just to see if he could hear her. He wasn't quite sure what he was expecting to hear exactly, Stella had never really snored so it wasn't that. Maybe he just wanted to hear her breathing. Perhaps he should go in and check on her? He suddenly felt like a weirdo, spying on a woman while she slept. OK so the woman was Stella and she was sleeping in his bed...oh jeez I can't handle this, he thought. He shook his head and went to the stereo, choosing a CD and putting it on quietly, hoping that the gentle music would help him go to sleep. He snuggled down into his sleeping bag and tried to think of one of Fraser's really dull Inuit stories. That seemed to do the trick and in a few minutes he almost smiled to himself as his eyelids began to feel heavy. His breathing slowed and in his mind he saw Stella and Fraser, he wasn't quite sure where they were though? The Canadian Consulate maybe? Then he saw himself, but he was naked and Stella was laughing at him and Fraser had morphed into Turnbull for some crazy reason. He suddenly wished he hadn't gone to sleep after all. Then a noise snapped him back to full consciousness and he sat bolt upright.

“Sorry Ray, I didn't mean to wake you,” Stella half whispered as she walked towards the kitchen. “I was just going to get a glass of water, I need some more aspirin.”

Ray got out of his sleeping bag. “Hey, it's OK, I wasn't really asleep,” said Ray in a croaky voice. “Still hurtin' huh?” He watched Stella filling a glass with water from the tap. She was wearing one of his t-shirts and it barely skimmed her thighs. He couldn't take his eyes off her legs, Stella had always had great legs. Stella spun round. “Well?” she said, raising her eyebrows. Ray just stood there. “Aspirin?” Stella prompted.

“Oh yeah, I, er, I put them back in the drawer,” said Ray as he retrieved the small bottle of painkillers.

“Thanks,” said Stella. She opened the bottle and tipped two pills into her hand, swallowing them down with water before replacing the cap on the bottle and handing it back to Ray. Ray watched her every move, his eyes transfixed on her fingers, her mouth, her throat...oh hell, Ray thought to himself. Come on Kowalski, snap out of it.

“Come and sit down for a minute,” Ray suggested and to his surprise Stella nodded and followed him back to the sofa. “Oh, er...” he grabbed his sleeping bag and tossed it in a crumpled heap on the floor. Stella rolled her eyes sat down. Ray sat next to her, then he immediately jumped up again. “I need some water too,” he said. He wasn't really thirsty, but something had stopped him from sitting next to her and he had no idea what it was, not really, but it was like an old memory had popped into his head and it had freaked him out, just for a second. He returned a moment later with half a glass of water and this time he did sit down next to Stella. Even in the low light he could see Stella's bruised and swollen face and he fought to keep down the anger that threatened to rise up again.

Stella sipped at her water, but out of the corner of her eye she could see Ray staring at her. “I look a mess don't I,” she sighed.

Ray smiled half a smile. “You look fine,” he tried to reassure her, “nothin' that a bit of make up can't deal with,” he added.

“Ray I could always tell when you were lying,” Stella replied, looking him directly in the eyes.

Ray shrugged and smiled ruefully. She was right. “Tell me what happened Stell,” he said softly. “How does a guy hit a woman? I don't get it.” He brushed a stray lock of hair from Stella's face and she smiled.

“I hit him first,” she said. Ray was slightly stunned. “Slapped him, anyway,” she clarified. “He, um, said some things about me, called me...well, that doesn't matter. Anyway, I slapped him in the face and told him where he could stick his lousy fake diamonds. I guess he just reacted.”

“By punchin' ya?” Ray said, “that's not an excuse Stella.”

“It's not meant to be,” Stella replied. Then she fell silent and Ray could see her struggling to keep control.

“Stell?” Ray put his hand on her shoulder.

Stella couldn't look him in the eye. “I never want to feel like that again,” she whispered. “He hit me and hit me and there was nothing I could do about it...then he pushed me to the ground. That's when the glass got smashed...” she had to stop speaking to hold back her emotions.

“It's OK, it wasn't your fault,” Ray tried to encourage her, “the guy's a scumbag and he's gonna pay for this. Y'know, I've, er, spoken to a lot of victims and they always say...”

“I'm not a victim Ray,” Stella interrupted him, desperately, “I'm not. I refuse to be a victim.” She was speaking almost through clenched teeth now. Ray just nodded. That was typical Stella. Of course she wasn't a victim. It wasn't in her nature to be a victim. She wasn't going to allow this to make her into one. “Fraser left me something for the bruising,” Stella said, trying to shift the focus of the conversation. “I left it on the side over there, would you mind?”

Ray leapt up and retrieved the jar of ointment. He took off the lid and recoiled at the smell. He didn't want to think what might be in it, but his experience of Fraser's Inuit remedies told him it probably worked really well. He sat back down on the sofa and plunged his finger into the sticky substance. Stella opened her mouth to say something, probably to try to stop him Ray thought, but he ignored her and began to gently apply some to her swollen face with one finger. Stella closed her eyes as he touched her. “Is that OK?” he asked, softly, “I'm not hurtin' ya, am I?”

“No,” Stella replied, “it's good, thanks Ray.” Ray applied the ointment liberally and then wiped the excess off his finger onto a tissue.

Stella shivered. “You cold?” asked Ray, replacing the lid on the jar. Stella nodded. Ray didn't even stop to think, he just pulled her close into a hug. “Here,” he said. Normally she would have pushed him away, but not today, not now. Right now she needed someone to hold her, she needed him to be there for her. Ray just held her close. He remembered now, he remembered how she felt, how she made him feel.

“I was scared Ray,” Stella whispered. Ray was taken aback. He didn't know what to say. She never admitted to being scared. Of course Stella could be frightened just like everyone else, but she never once let it show, not to Ray, not to anyone.

Suddenly Ray leapt up from the sofa, holding out one hand. Stella looked at him, puzzled and slightly nervous. Ray grinned. “May I have this dance?” he asked.

Stella smiled and took his hand and they began to dance barefoot around the room. A waltz to start with, it was always their best dance. They moved together as one around the room and Stella began to feel her worries float away as the music filled her head. She pressed herself closer to Ray. God she'd missed this. This is what they were good at, this was what she loved about Ray. Ray wrapped his arm around her tightly and they danced some more. The next track on the CD had a faster tempo and they tried to dance to it, but they both got their feet muddled and Ray tried to lead her one way as Stella leaned the other way and in the end they both burst out laughing. Ray pulled Stella into a hug again. “I guess we're a little rusty,” he grinned.

Stella nodded. “We'll stick with the waltz,” she giggled. Then she pulled back a little and locked eyes with Ray. “Thank you,” she said seriously, “I needed that.”

“Any time,” replied Ray and they stood there frozen to the spot for a moment. Ray was the first to start speaking. “Er, maybe I should make some of Fraser's tea? There's one that, er, well it's good for helpin' me sleep.” He turned to head to the kitchen, but Stella pulled him back and stunned him with a kiss. A slow, tender kiss. Ray's eyes were wide but he didn't try to stop her, there was no way he was going to do that.

Eventually, Stella was the one to pull away. She looked away from Ray. “I'm sorry,” she muttered.

“Why?” asked Ray, innocently, drawing his lower lip into his mouth to prolong the taste of Stella's lips on his own.

Stella smiled coyly. “I won't have any tea, thank you,” she said and headed back into the bedroom. Ray stood in the middle of his apartment, almost paralysed as he tried to get his head around what had just happened. In the end he wandered to the kitchen in a daze, made himself a cup of tea and ended up sipping at it while huddled back in his sleeping bag.

xXx

The next morning, Ray was buzzing around the kitchen, full of pent up energy. He'd already had two cups of coffee before Stella emerged from the bedroom. He wasn't sure what to say to her so he decided to simply say, “Mornin',” and leave it at that.

Ray breathed a sigh of relief when Stella smiled at him. “Morning Ray, how did you sleep in the end?”

“Oh, er, good thanks,” he lied.

“Me too,” added Stella. “Thank you, for letting me stay, for everything you did for me yesterday. It was one of the most...” her voice trailed off as she tried to think of an appropriate word to describe how she felt about everything that had happened to her the day before. She settled on, “challenging days I've had for a long time.”

Ray nodded in agreement. He understood that from being attacked to swallowing her pride and admitting to Ray and Fraser what had happened and then sleeping at Ray's apartment, with dancing and kissing thrown in, Stella's head must have been in the strangest place it had been in for a long time. Stella didn't like to lose control of any aspect of her life. Ray knew that, he'd found out the hard way. “Yeah, I guess it was,” he said, adding, “breakfast?”

“Thanks Ray, but I need to get back to my place and get ready for court,” replied Stella, heading for the bathroom.

“It's OK,” Ray called after her, slightly nervously, “I already called Fraser. He's gonna go to your apartment and get ya some clothes and, er, other stuff. I told him to call at Mrs O'Carrol's for the key.” He paused and waited for Stella's reaction, he knew he should have checked with her first, but he hadn't wanted to wake her and he'd thought doing it this way would save a lot of time. Fortunately for Ray, Stella seemed to agree with him.

“OK,” said Stella. She didn't feel like arguing and besides, if she trusted anyone alone in her apartment she trusted the Mountie. There was no way he was going to go prying into her private things. “I guess that's a good idea. Thanks.”

Ray nodded as Stella went into the bathroom and then poured himself coffee number three. He could get used to this he thought to himself. He could very easily get used to having normal conversations with Stella, to having breakfast with Stella. He drew a sharp breath as that last thought slipped into his head. He wasn't sure what his next thought was going to be so he decided that it was best to keep it from forming.

It wasn't long before there was a knock at the door. “It's me Ray,” Fraser's voice called out. Ray leapt off the chair and ran to open the door just as Stella appeared drying her hair with a towel.

“Hi buddy,” grinned Ray as Fraser stepped into the apartment, followed by Diefenbaker who bounded straight into the kitchen.

“Good morning Ray,” smiled Fraser, struggling with his hands full of bags, “good morning Stella, how are you this morning?”

“I'm fine thanks,” replied Stella, then she frowned slightly as she realised that Fraser had virtually emptied her wardrobe and most of her drawers too by the look of it.

Fraser carefully placed everything he was carrying down, draping two suit carriers across the sofa. “I'm very pleased to hear that,” he said to her, “no more dizzy spells?” Stella shook her head. “That's excellent,” continued Fraser. “Now, I wasn't quite sure what to bring so I selected two outfits that I've seen you wearing in court before. I also brought your cosmetics case, some items of jewellery, two pairs of shoes that in my opinion would complement either outfit, although please feel free to correct me on that assumption...”

“Fraser!” Ray interrupted his buddy with a grin, “have ya ever thought of bein' one of those, er, what are they called Stell? Y'know, those people in the big stores who, er, tell ya what clothes to buy.”

“You mean a personal shopper Ray,” laughed Stella. Fraser was probably the last person on earth who would be any good at that job she thought.

Fraser didn't have a clue what they were talking about. “No, I can't say that I have Ray,” he replied, slightly bemused.

“What's in that huge suitcase then Fraser?” Ray asked.

“Ah,” replied Fraser, the colour in his face starting to deepen, “ah, well, I assumed that you'd also require...um, that is to say that I realised that you'd also need...um...” Fraser stopped to clear his throat and he tugged at the starched collar of his red tunic with one finger.

Stella was slightly puzzled and crossed to the suitcase. She got down on one knee and unzipped the case, opening it slowly. Then an enormous smile spread across her face and she looked at Fraser who's face was now a delightful shade of beetroot red. “Thanks Fraser,” she grinned, flinging back the lid of the suitcase to reveal the entire contents of both of her underwear drawers, arranged in exactly the same way as they were back at her apartment.

“I assure you that I only handled your, um, those items for the bare minimum amount of time required,” mumbled Fraser, very embarrassed by now. “I thought it inappropriate to select particular items so I simply transported everything.”

Ray was laughing now, enjoying his friend's embarrassment. “Only you buddy,” he grinned, “only you would not rummage through a, er, ladies underwear drawer when ya actually had permission!”

Fraser frowned at Ray. “That wouldn't have been at all chivalrous,” he pointed out. Ray shook his head. “I also brought breakfast,” Fraser added, holding up two paper bags crammed full of fresh rolls and pastries from the bakery that was close to Stella's apartment building.

“Thanks buddy, I'm hungry,” smiled Ray. Stella had gathered an armful of clothes and headed back to the bedroom to get changed. Ray and Fraser walked into the kitchen to get breakfast ready. “Stella and I went over the, er, the trial. It's all good. Should be a walk in the park.”

“Understood,” replied Fraser. “How is Stella this morning, really I mean,” Fraser asked seriously.

Ray thought about his answer for a moment. “Er, she's OK,” he said, hesitantly, “she, er, she didn't really know how to deal with everythin' that, er, happened yesterday, y'know, but she's OK. She told me what went down, well kinda anyway, I think it was pretty, er, brutal. Then we danced.”

“Danced?” enquired Fraser, his eyebrows raised in surprised. That wasn't what he'd expected Ray to say at all.

“Yeah,” smiled Ray, “like we used to, we've still got it y'know.”

“It?” Fraser frowned.

“Yeah, it,” repeated Ray, “c'mon Fraser, y'know what I'm sayin'.”

Fraser was still frowning. “I'm not entirely sure that I do,” he said.

xXx

The three of them ate their breakfast and then it was Ray's turn to shower and change. Fraser and Stella cleared away the breakfast things, talking about the Lorenzo trial as they worked. Fraser noted how Stella was almost like a different person when discussing the trial. It was as if she had a switch that she could throw and she was Assistant States Attorney Kowalski again and not just Stella, hurt and frightened like she was yesterday. It was very similar to something he himself did, so he fully understood why she did it. It was a technique that came in useful in their respective careers, but Fraser was acutely aware that it was not necessarily the best course of action for either of them in their personal lives. It was also completely opposite to Ray. He was always just Ray Kowalski, well technically at the moment he was Ray Vecchio, but the person inside was the same. Ray had never mastered the art of shielding people from the way he was really feeling. Fraser admired that about Ray actually, at least he was being honest with people most of the time. With Ray you generally knew exactly what he was thinking. "I assume you'd prefer a less conspicuous dressing on that injury for court today," said Fraser, placing the last of the plates in the cupboard.

"Yes, thank you Fraser," replied Stella, hanging up the damp tea towel, "if you wouldn't mind. I hope to be able to disguise a lot of the bruising with make-up," she explained. Fraser led her towards the sofa, picking up the first aid kit which was still where he'd left it yesterday. She sat down and Fraser sat next to her, rummaging in the case for some gloves. “Um, Fraser,” Stella began, hesitantly, “um, I just wanted to thank you for doing this for me yesterday.”

“It was no trouble,” replied Fraser as he carefully peeled off the old dressing from Stella's face. It was unusual for Stella to be so humble, he thought and he appreciated her sentiment. “That's looking a lot better today,” he added, gently probing the healing wound with a gloved fingertip.

“Ow,” she said, recoiling slightly.

“I'm terribly sorry,” replied Fraser and he set about cleaning and redressing the injury.

Stella sat in silence for a few minutes while he worked. He could tell she was thinking about saying something, but was holding back and that made him slightly nervous. Eventually she said, “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” replied Fraser, pressing down carefully to secure tape around the new dressing.

“About Ray,” Stella added.

“Oh,” said Fraser, tugging at his left ear.

“Is he, um...does he...” Stella wasn't sure exactly how to phrase her question. She watched him start to pack the first aid kit away. “I didn't mean to...when I told him I wanted a divorce, I didn't think he'd be so...I thought he'd understand.” Fraser stopped, stunned at the topic of conversation. Stella continued. “Fraser, does he ever say anything, about us I mean? About our marriage?”

Fraser thought for a moment. Then he looked at Stella seriously and replied, “Frequently.”

“Oh,” Stella appeared genuinely surprised. “I do love him you know, I always will, but we just couldn't be together any more. You do understand don't you?”

“Stella,” Fraser rubbed slowly across his eyebrow with his knuckle, “I really don't think that we should be having this conversation,” he said.

Stella looked suddenly horrified. “Of course, I'm sorry Fraser, I don't know what came over me.”

“If I could make one recommendation though,” Fraser said with an uncomfortable smile. Stella nodded. “Perhaps you should have this conversation with Ray?”

All the colour drained from Stella's face and she shook her head. “We haven't been able to have a conversation since, well, since...” she sighed. “Although last night...I couldn't sleep and we actually talked...and then we danced...”

“He mentioned that,” acknowledged Fraser.

“I don't know why I'm telling you all this.” Stella's voice cracked and she turned away.

“Stella, are you sure you feel able to attend the trial today?” asked Fraser, gently. It was clear that what had happened to her yesterday had affected her more than they'd realised.

“Of course I do!” snapped Stella, clearing her throat and getting to her feet. There it was again thought Fraser, she's thrown that switch again. Her barriers were back in place and Assistant States Attorney Kowalski was back with a vengeance. “If you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to make myself look more like an attorney and less like a kickboxer.” She picked up her make up case and strode off into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her, just as Ray appeared from the bathroom. He stopped dead in his tracks and watched Stella, slightly stunned.

“What happened?” Ray asked, reeling from the sound of the door slamming.

“Um,” Fraser didn't know how much he should say. “I think she's keen to get this trial over with today.”

Ray studied his partner for a moment. Fraser was a terrible liar, but he was pretty good at deflecting, even though he denied ever doing that of course. Ray grinned at Fraser. “Ya got on the wrong side of The Stella didn't ya,” he said. “You'll learn buddy, you'll learn.”

Fraser just smiled. He wasn't sure what was going through Stella's mind at the moment, but it wasn't his place to discuss it with Ray. “Stella won't be long, then we can head to the courthouse.” Ray was pacing around the apartment now. Clenching and flexing his fingers as he paced. “Ray, Ray, Ray, RAY!” Fraser tried to attract his partner's attention.

“Yeah?” Ray spun round on his heels.

“You seem...tense, are you alright?” Fraser asked him.

“Yeah, fine, thanks buddy,” replied Ray. “I'm not tense, I'm just, er, y'know, it's just I got this feelin',” he slapped his chest with one hand, “in here I mean.”

Fraser frowned. “Indigestion?” he suggested.

Ray laughed and released some of the tension from his shoulders. “No Fraser,” he grinned, “it's a good feelin'.”

“Right you are,” Fraser smiled. Ray was acting very strange this morning. It was probably the prospect of the trial, he thought to himself.

xXx

Fraser sat at the back of the courthouse with Ray all morning. Occasionally he had to elbow Ray in the ribs if his snoring became too loud. “You know Ray, you really should pay attention to the depositions of the other witnesses,” whispered Fraser.

“I know,” agreed Ray, sleepily, “I didn't, er, get much sleep last night. So how's it going anyway?”

“Well,” began Fraser, “it's always difficult to say of course, but Stella has very successfully knocked back two serious challenges put forward by Mr Lorenzo's attorney and made their key witness look somewhat of a fool on the witness stand.”

Ray grinned. “Isn't she great at this,” he said.

“Indeed,” agreed Fraser, “I would go so far as to say that today she is rolling along.”

Ray looked at him in disbelief. It took him a second to work out what his buddy was trying to say. His face softened and he shook his head. “Ya mean she's on a roll Fraser,” he laughed.

“Oh yes, my mistake,” replied Fraser, humbly. “I'm terrible sorry.”

“So, er, when's lunch?” asked Ray, but before Fraser could answer Ray heard his name being called to the witness stand. He glanced at Fraser as he got to his feet and Fraser gave him a thumbs up sign.

Fraser watched and listened as Ray gave his evidence about the night they'd tracked Juan Lorenzo all the way to a boathouse by Lake Michigan. Stella was in full flow, coaxing all the details from Ray and ensuring that the jury knew exactly how Ray had put his life on the line in the call of duty again to protect the citizens of Chicago. Fraser noted how Stella became quite passionate in the way she spoke in places and whilst her court appearances were always effective and professional, he wasn't sure he'd ever seen her behave in quite this way before. Lorenzo's lawyer was determined to trip Ray up, but of course Ray was having none of that. His answers were always sharp and quick witted and the jury warmed to his humour, much to the disappointment of the judge who preferred to keep his court sessions very serious.

Ray got down from the stand and headed back to join Fraser, smiling at Stella on his way past. “Stella's nailed this hasn't she,” he smiled at his buddy as Stella began her summing up.

“I hope so,” whispered Fraser, “I for one would be very happy to see Mr Lorenzo in jail.” Ray nodded in agreement. “Ray, if you don't mind,” Fraser continued, “I believe you're going to be here for a while yet, I'd like to take the opportunity to speak to Mr Tyler.”

“OK buddy,” agreed Ray. He wished he could go too, but he knew he should stay until the end of today's proceedings and besides he really didn't want to leave Stella.

xXx

Fraser and Diefenbaker walked into Tyler's Jewels which was not too far from the Twenty Seventh precinct. Fraser often passed the shop on his way to the station and he'd noticed in the last week that there were signs in the window announcing the impending closure of the business and that all jewellery was on sale at bargain prices. He instructed Dief to stay outside and then opened the door and went in. Looking around he could see that the shop was full of packing boxes and the displays were half empty. There was an elderly lady behind the counter. “Good afternoon ma'am,” smiled Fraser, removing his hat and tucking it under his arm, “I'm here to speak to Mr Tyler if he's available, please?”

“Yes dear,” replied the lady with a smile, “he's out the back, packing up. Who shall I say is looking for him?”

“Constable Benton Fraser, Royal Canadian Mounted Police,” replied Fraser.

The lady stood open mouthed for a moment. Her hearing wasn't very good at the best of times and her memory was even worse. Eventually she turned and yelled out. “Ronald! Someone here to see you!” Eventually, a rather harassed looking man, came through from the back. He was slightly taller than Fraser, but stocky, with dark hair greying at the temples.

“Mr Tyler, my name is Constable Benton Fraser, RCMP, I wonder if I might have a word with you about an incident that occurred yesterday?" Fraser enquired.

"Incident?" Tyler looked very nervous all of a sudden.

"Yes," confirmed Fraser, "there was an unfortunate traffic incident involving a startled horse and you were seen getting into a vehicle at the time. Obviously we wanted to make sure your vehicle wasn't damaged so we ran a check on the licence plate, however said vehicle is currently noted as being stolen? Perhaps you could explain this?"

"Of course," nodded Tyler, breathing a small sigh of relief, "the vehicle used to belong to my ex-wife, but ownership transferred to me as part of our divorce settlement. Unfortunately Sylvia likes to forget to file legal paperwork for these things so technically ownership is still in her name. I suppose she thought it was amusing to report it as stolen."

"Ah," said Fraser, "you do understand that I will have to corroborate your story?"

"Of course," replied Tyler, "you have to do your job." Then a thought occurred to him. “Constable, can I interest you in any of these fine items of jewellery? Everything is half price, I have to sell it all before the weekend,” he explained, producing a tray of diamond rings. Fraser began to politely decline, but Tyler continued, “surely there's a special lady on your life?”

“Well, actually...” began Fraser, tugging at his left ear, but his voice trailed off as he noticed something about one of the rings. He picked it up and held it up to the light.

“That's a beautiful one,” smiled Tyler.

Fraser didn't respond. He picked up another ring and studied it closely. “How much are these two?” he asked.

“Both?” queried Tyler and Fraser nodded. “Well,” the older man thought for a moment, “to you Constable, two hundred dollars.”

“Oh dear,” muttered Fraser, producing a few folded notes from his hat. “I'm afraid I only have one hundred and twenty dollars.”

Tyler looked dejected. He sighed and then smiled and took Fraser's cash. “I have to sell everything,” he said with a shrug, “so you've got yourself a deal. You're going to make your little lady very happy.” Tyler put each of the rings into boxes and handed them to Fraser in a small bag.

"Thank you kindly," said Fraser, taking the bag. He turned and headed towards the door, but then he stopped suddenly and turned back. "There was just one more thing," he said. Tyler drew a sharp breath. “The incident with the horse took place outside the offices of the States Attorney,” Fraser continued, “as I understand it, your divorce settlement was reached almost a month ago. May I enquire as to the nature of your visit?”

Tyler hung his head. “I assume she told you,” he said quietly.

“She?” Fraser enquired, raising his eyebrows.

“Stella Kowalski, Sylvia's attorney,” clarified Tyler and Fraser nodded. “I wanted to discuss a few final details with her. You can tell her that it's alright, I don't intend to press charges against her.” Fraser was stunned into silence. “I said some things to upset her so I probably deserved it,” added Tyler. He pulled up his left sleeve and showed his arm to Fraser. “They're only scratches really and my face isn't red any more where she slapped me. I won't be filing assault charges,” the man continued, “I think she cut her face when she fell anyway, so I guess that's punishment enough. I just hope she's going to get some help for her drinking problem.”

Fraser stood for a moment. “Drinking problem?” he said eventually, keeping his voice even.

“It wasn't even lunchtime and she'd opened a bottle,” explained Tyler, “it's so sad really. She's a very intelligent woman underneath. I imagine her job is very stressful though.”

Fraser cleared is throat and placed his hat squarely on his head, taking a deep breath to prevent himself saying something he would regret. “Thank you kindly. We'll be in touch,” he said eventually, “and if you think of anything further that you feel may be of interest in the meantime, I can be contacted at the Canadian Consulate on this number, or if you prefer you may speak to Detective Vecchio at the Chicago PD.” He scribbled the two telephone numbers down on a piece of scrap paper that was lying on the counter and then with one final nod to Ronald Tyler he left the shop and headed back to the courthouse.

xXx

On the way back, Fraser stopped in at the Twenty Seventh to ask Francesca to start looking into a few things for him. He told her that it was a personal matter, not an official case as such and of course avoided mentioning Stella's involvement, but Francesca seemed happy to help anyway. Then he headed back to the courthouse. When he arrived, he almost bumped into Ray leaving the courtroom. “Hey buddy,” grinned Ray, “it's over. Guilty.”

Fraser breathed a huge sigh of relief. “That is good news,” he said.

“Yeah,” agreed Ray, “I mean, we were pretty sure right, but ya just never know how this things are gonna go on the day do ya?”

“Indeed,” nodded Fraser as the two of them moved aside to allow the steady stream of people leaving the courtroom to pass. “I visited Mr Tyler,” he continued, “it was...interesting.”

Ray frowned. “What d'ya mean?” but before Fraser got time to reply Stella appeared.

“Congratulations,” smiled Fraser.

“Thanks,” replied Stella. “It's days like this that make me remember why I do this job,” she added.

“I know that feelin',” added Ray.

Stella turned to Ray. “Can you take me home please?” she asked quietly. Ray suddenly realised that she looked quite exhausted.

“Sure,” he said, glancing worriedly at Fraser, “ya can pick up some more of your clothes and stuff. I thought maybe we'd get a pizza tonight, is that OK with you?”

“Ray,” began Stella with a sigh, “I'll be staying at home tonight.”

“No way,” said Ray firmly, “you're stayin' with me again. I don't want ya on your own tonight.”

“Ray!” Stella began to protest, but Fraser jumped in to back up his partner.

“I believe that would be prudent,” said Fraser, pulling slowly at his left earlobe, “I visited Mr Tyler earlier so he is now aware that we know about what happened. Until we can ascertain exactly what his intentions are I believe you would be safer with Ray.”

Stella looked despondently at the floor. She hated that she needed anyone's protection, least of all Ray's. “What did Ron have to say for himself?” she asked Fraser quietly.

“I believe we should discuss that somewhere a little more private,” replied Fraser with an encouraging smile.

xXx

At Stella's apartment, Ray sat drinking coffee while Stella was in her bedroom packing a bag of clothes. Fraser sipped at a glass of water, Stella didn't have any tea in her kitchen. “So what did he say?” asked Ray.

Fraser explained how Ronald Tyler had tried to insinuate that Stella had attacked him and not the other way around. Ray was fuming. “Why didn't ya bring him in?” he yelled.

“Ray, calm down,” Fraser insisted, “you know I have no jurisdictional powers of arrest and besides we need to take our time with this. He was merely trying to throw me off the scent. As much as I would love to see the man punished for what he did to Stella, I believe that arresting him at this juncture would jeopardise our investigation into whatever it is that Sylvia Tyler is involved in, including the fake diamonds.”

Ray sighed and slumped back down on the sofa next to his buddy. “So what d'ya think's goin' on then?” he asked.

Fraser picked up the bag containing the two rings he'd bought earlier. “It is my belief Ray that, regardless of Mr Tyler's apparently violent nature, he is unaware of the existence of fake diamonds amongst his stock. Now, I'm not excusing his actions in any way, but I think he was genuinely offended at Stella's accusations. Look, I bought these.” Fraser took out one of the ring boxes, opened it and showed it to Ray.

“Gee Fraser, ya shouldn't have,” Ray's face broke into a broad grin, “I mean, I love ya like a brother, but nothin' more. Sorry.”

Fraser shook his head, ignoring his partner's attempt at humour. “It's fake Ray.” Ray took the ring out of the box and held it up to the light. It looked just like a diamond to him. “Unlike this one,” Fraser continued, showing Ray the second ring, “which is a high quality vintage diamond.”

Ray picked up both the rings now and tried to tell the diamonds apart, but he really couldn't. Just then Stella appeared from her room carrying a large holdall. “Hell Stell,” Ray called her over, “what d'ya make of these?”

Stella stood her bag by the door and took the rings from Ray, peering closely at them. “Are these from Ron's store?” she asked and Fraser nodded. “This one's a fake isn't it,” she added and Fraser nodded again.

“OK, tell me how ya know that?” asked Ray, slightly bemused, “I mean him,” he nodded towards Fraser, “he could spot a, er, fake snowflake in a snowstorm, but how did you know?”

“Ray, I'm a woman,” retorted Stella, “a woman can tell, believe me.” Ray glanced at Fraser and pulled a face.

“Stella, come and take a seat for a moment,” said Fraser and Stella complied, looking a little puzzled. “I spoke with Mr Tyler today and I'm afraid he made some rather serious accusations against you,” began Fraser and he explained what had happened at the shop.

Stella's shoulders slumped forward. “How dare he,” she said under her breath, her teeth clenched in anger. “After what he did to me...” she trailed off as her voice cracked. Ray put his arm around her.

“Stella, I assure you that I didn't believe a word of what he was saying,” Fraser said gently, “additionally, I don't think he is aware of the existence of the fake diamonds. It would appear that several, but not all of the items in the store contain fake stones.”

“Why? How?” asked Stella, “if he doesn't know then how did they get there...oh wait a minute,” Stella's eye's widened. “Sylvia, she must have something to do with this.”

“That would be my assumption also,” confirmed Fraser.

“So, er, she's been sellin' fake jewellery in her own store?” Ray couldn't quite make sense of it.

“We need to talk to her,” noted Fraser. “Trying to sabotage a business of which she's a partner doesn't appear to make much sense. Her motive is elusive at this juncture.”

“OK, c'mon,” said Ray suddenly, leaping to his feet and heading towards the door, picking up Stella's bag on the way, “I'm starvin', let's go eat.”

xXx

As they ate pizza, Fraser was watching Stella closely. Ray asked her to tell them everything she knew about Ronald and Sylvia Tyler. Stella told them all the information she had about Sylvia, everything she'd told her during the work she did on their divorce. "Sylvia never suggested that Ron was violent to her," noted Stella. Sylvia appeared to have worked very hard to keep the business afloat during a difficult time a few years ago. The store had been run by three generations of Ronald Tyler's family and he was fiercely proud of it's history.

They finished eating and Fraser thought it was time he headed back to the Consulate. He was slightly worried to note that Stella hadn't eaten very much, although Dief had done quite well out of the situation. "I'll be back in the morning and we can go and speak with Sylvia Tyler," said Fraser as he stood by the door and buttoned his overcoat.

"Yeah, yeah," agreed Ray, glancing back over his shoulder at Stella who was dozing on the sofa.

"Ray," Fraser's brow furrowed with concern, "are you alright? You appear apprehensive?"

"I'm fine buddy," replied Ray, "I'm, er, y'know..."

"I'm sorry Ray, I'm afraid I don't know," replied a confused Fraser.

Ray grinned and slapped his buddy affectionately on the back. "See ya tomorrow Fraser,” he said, "everythin's greatness here."

Fraser nodded. "Alright," he said, "keep a close eye on Stella," he added seriously.

Ray smiled. "Don't worry, I will," he replied, "I'll take care of her."

xXx

Ray let Stella doze for an hour or so. He sat in the chair and just stared at her. The TV was on but he wasn't watching it. A few days ago the presence of his ex-wife in the same room would have made him tense, angry even. All those feelings would rise up, the sadness, the bitterness and those 'what might have been' thoughts that he knew weren't doing him any good and they would threaten to overwhelm him. Tonight was different, tonight she was snoozing on his sofa and it was all he could do to stop himself going over to her and stroking her hair, maybe kissing her gently on the top of her head? Last night they'd danced and kissed and it had felt amazing, like he'd never imagined it could, not after everything. Maybe things could get better between them? _Perhaps we could be friends now, maybe we don't have to fight any more?_ Ray's thoughts were racing ahead now. _Maybe we made one huge mistake when we broke up? Perhaps we should have tried harder? I love ya Stella, always will._

Stella stirred. Ray thought he should probably wake her anyway and make sure she got to bed. He knew she wouldn't want to spend the night on the sofa. “Stella,” he called out softly as he got to his feet.

“No,” Stella mumbled under her breath, then she suddenly sat bolt upright, her eyes wide. “No!” she yelled out.

Ray immediately sat beside her. “Hey Stell, it's OK,” he said, “it's me.”

“Oh,” she said quietly, trying to focus her eyes in the low light. “I thought I was...I mean, for a minute there I thought...”

“Sshhh,” soothed Ray, “it's OK, I guess ya were dreamin' or, er, somethin'.” Stella nodded and tried not to let Ray see she was shaking. “It's late, I figured you'd wanna get to bed,” Ray continued. “Do ya want anythin'? Tea maybe, or a glass of water?”

“Um, tea would be good Ray, thank you,” smiled Stella and she watched as Ray darted off into the kitchen. There was something so familiar about this she thought to herself. Maybe he had never made her tea when they were married, but he would always make her a coffee, or pour her a glass of wine if she wanted him too. He used to be so eager to please her and yet she never really told him how much she appreciated that. Maybe she even took advantage of it sometimes? She'd deliberately pushed a lot of the details of her marriage to the back of her mind, she found it easier to block everything out, so when she did try to recall those mundane details things often became a little foggy. Surely she hadn't treated him that badly for the whole of their marriage? Surely she hadn't used him like that, played on his insecurities? _Why would I do that to the man I love? What kind of a wife was I?_ Suddenly she felt terrible.

Ray came back with her tea. “Here,” he said, but then he saw the look on her face. “Stell? What is it?”

Stella tried to muster a smile. “Nothing,” she lied, “I'm just thinking about Ron, that's all.” It wasn't entirely untrue, she was having trouble shaking the image of Ron attacking her from her mind, particularly while she slept it seemed.

“Hey,” Ray sat beside her again and put his arm around her. He was getting used to doing that, it felt so natural now, just like it used to. “It's OK, you're OK now.”

“Thanks Ray,” she said, hesitating slightly before resting her head on his shoulder. Now Ray really did plant a kiss on the top of her head. Stella let out a contented “Mmmm,” and Ray smiled. They stayed like that for a few minutes.

Eventually Ray said, “Tea's gettin' cold,” because he was getting a bit too comfortable and he didn't think he should be.

Stella lifted her head from his shoulder and looked into his eyes, but neither of them made any attempt to drink their tea. Instead Stella opened her mouth to speak, but she realised that her brain just couldn't formulate a sentence and her mouth closed again. Ray frowned. Stella's lips parted again, but this time she had no intention of speaking and instead leaned forward, capturing Ray's mouth for a kiss. Ray wasn't as stunned as he had been last night. He'd secretly been hoping this would happen again and this time he was ready and they kissed passionately. Stella ran her fingers roughly through his hair, God he'd always loved it when she did that. Ray turned himself towards Stella so that he had one knee on the sofa and now he was able to use both of his hands, one was gently holding the side of Stella's face while he slowly ran the other hand up inside her blouse, his body reacting as he felt the soft skin of her back under his fingertips. Stella released his lips and instead began to kiss his neck, making him shudder, close his eyes and throw his head back with delight as his breathing became rapid. She shoved her hands into the back pockets of his jeans and squeezed and Ray's eyes were open now, wide with a weird combination of pleasure and fear. _OK what's happening? I mean it's great, better than great, but is it really what she wants? Is it what I want? Do I even care if it's what I want or not?_ Ray was beginning to lose control now, that wonderful moment when no matter what you were thinking, now matter how loudly your brain was shouting at you, it was too late and you were past the point of no return. _I should give her the chance to stop this,_ he thought, but before he could do anything Stella pulled away.

Ray smiled ruefully. “Ray,” she began, “we should probably...”

“Yeah, yeah I know,” Ray interrupted her, he couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with her. “We should probably stop and, er, drink our tea.”

Stella looked crestfallen. “Oh,” she said quietly, “I was going to say, we should probably go to the bedroom.”

Ray looked up at her now. She smiled at him and he smiled back. “Stella?” he said, gently, desperate to make sure he wasn't reading this all wrong as he cupped the side of her face with his hand again, tenderly brushing her cheek with his thumb. Stella just nodded and then she took Ray's hand in hers, moving it from her face and bringing it to her mouth and kissing his palm. She got to her feet, still holding his hand and Ray hesitated for a split second, trying to make some sort of rational decision, but his head was in no fit state now for rational thought. Other parts of his body were making all the decisions now, so he stood up too and followed her to the bedroom.

xXx

The next morning Ray was first up again. He'd virtually leapt out of bed, had his shower and was now attempting to make waffles. He'd never made waffles before, Francesca had inexplicably bought him a waffle maker for his birthday this year, but he'd never even got it out of the box before today. Now here he was, mixing ingredients in a bowl and humming under his breath. The bedroom door opened and Stella appeared, rubbing her eyes. “Mornin'!” he smiled, throwing the whisk into the bowl with a clattering noise and almost skipping across his apartment to plant a kiss on her lips.

“Morning Ray,” replied Stella. She watched as Ray returned to mixing. “Um, Ray,” she began hesitantly, but Ray was already talking.

“I'm making waffles,” he said excitedly, “I hope ya still like them, ya do, er, still like 'em don't ya? I mean I know I never made 'em for ya before, but, er, the ones we used to get from DeLuca's always smelled so good and Frannie got me this and...”

“Ray,” Stella interrupted him. “Come here for a minute...please?”

Ray had a sinking feeling as he slowly crossed back over to her. “You OK?” he asked seriously.

Stella smiled. “Yes...you?”

“Me? I'm greatness!” grinned Ray, slightly awkwardly.

“Good,” Stella relaxed a little now. “No regrets?” she asked gingerly.

“Regrets? No, God no!” Ray took her in his arms, but suddenly he wasn't sure what she was talking about. He'd assumed she'd been referring to last night and he had absolutely no regrets about that, none at all, even though he thought he would have, but perhaps that wasn't what she'd meant? Perhaps she meant regrets about their divorce? Or about ever getting married in the first place? He pulled away and looked into her eyes. “You?” He asked.

“No,” replied Stella with a smile and Ray breathed a sigh of relief. That was good, that was greatness. Whatever it was she thought he might have regrets about, at least she didn't have any about it...whatever it was. Now he'd confused himself. It was too early in the morning for this. “Do you need a hand with those Ray?” asked Stella, nodding towards the kitchen.

“Oh, er, no,” replied Ray, with a smile, “you go jump in the shower and these'll be ready when ya get out.”

Stella nodded and went into the bathroom and Ray picked up the instruction manual for the waffle maker, scratching his head as he tried to work out which way to turn the dial on the machine. He heard barking outside and then there was a knock at the door. Ray bounded over to the door and opened it. “Mornin' buddy!” he said, throwing his arms around a startled Fraser. Dief barked and Ray released Fraser. “Mornin' Dief,” he grinned. “I'm makin' waffles, at least I'm tryin' to.” Dief barked again and followed Ray into the kitchen.

“You seem, um, radiant this morning,” said Fraser, pacing his hat on the side. “I take it you slept well?”

Ray laughed. “Sleep?” he grinned, “Er, no, not exactly.” He looked at Fraser with a glint in his eye, the reason for which Fraser couldn't quite put his finger on at this juncture.

“I suggest we approach Sylvia Tyler with a subterfuge,” Fraser had been thinking about this on the way to Ray's apartment. “For example that we are investigating a missing cat.” Fraser frowned as Ray poured some rather runny waffle mixture onto the hot plate of his waffle maker.

Ray looked at his partner, incredulously. “A cat?” he asked. “Look, er, Fraser, er, just let me do the talkin' OK?”

“Right you are Ray,” he replied with a shrug, adding some more flour to the waffle mixture and stirring it in. Ray looked over and saw what he was doing and laughed to himself.

Fraser and Ray rustled up a huge plateful of waffles and laid them out on the table with some syrup and a jug of coffee. Stella soon joined them and they talked about Sylvia some more. Stella was certain that Sylvia never suspected there was anything going on between her and Ronald. She'd seemed devastated that her marriage had come to an end, but always cited the reason she'd wanted a divorce was because she'd wanted to leave Chicago and move south to be with her sisters. Ronald was never going to move and leave his family business and in the end the constant arguing became too much and Sylvia had decided that she just didn't want to be with him any more. Sylvia had assumed that she'd be entitled to half the business after she'd put so may years of her life into it, but Ronald had put up a fight and hired an expensive lawyer. Of course all that had become blurred once he and Stella had started seeing each other and Stella couldn't really explain that. They'd never really discussed the details of the court case all the while they were together. They'd made a silent pact to keep the two things entirely separate.

“I imagine that was not easy for you,” Fraser said.

Stella sighed. “I liked him, I really did. I know you must think I'm an idiot to fall for a guy...well, y'know, a guy who can do this to a woman,” she gingerly touched her bruised face.

“No Stell,” insisted Ray, “that doesn't make ya an idiot. Guys like him, they, er, that's how they operate, right Fraser? They keep ya sweet, all flowers and chocolates and romantic dinners and, well, I guess, sex or whatever and the beatin', that's all about control.”

Stella nodded. “It's not your fault,” Fraser said encouragingly. “You mustn't blame yourself. As Ray said, men like him unfortunately get gratification from the control they exert over their victims.”

Ray flinched as soon as his partner said that last word. If he'd realised sooner that Fraser was going to say that, he would have tried to stop him, but it was too late. Stella leapt to her feet, taking Fraser completely by surprise. “I am not a victim!” she exclaimed.

“I'm sorry,” Fraser said, tugging at his ear, “I didn't mean to suggest...” but he didn't get to finish what he was about to say as Stella swayed and slumped back down onto her chair.

“Stell!” Ray grabbed her arm and Fraser was immediately kneeling beside her too. “Help her Fraser?”

Fraser knelt beside the semi-conscious woman. “Stella, can you hear me?” He asked as he checked her pulse and Stella moaned quietly in response. “Ray, let's get her over to the sofa.” They took one arm each and Stella stumbled her way to the sofa, then Ray made her comfortable while Fraser raised her feet on cushions.

“Stell,” said Ray urgently.

“I'm alright Ray,” murmured Stella, “I just felt a little dizzy again. I'm fine now.”

Ray looked at Fraser with a worried glance. Fraser was concerned too, although he was pleased to see that some of the colour had returned to her face now. “Just stay there for a minute or two and take some deep breaths,” he urged.

“OK, so that's like the, er, third time that's happened Stella, what's wrong?” Ray slipped his hand into hers and Fraser was slightly taken aback at the gesture and Stella's willing reaction to it.

“I would strongly recommend that you see a doctor,” Fraser said seriously.

“I'm fine,” Stella replied, “I guess I'm just a little tired.” She looked coyly at Ray as she spoke and Ray blushed a little.

Fraser caught the look, but didn't fully understand the meaning, much to Ray's relief. “I don't believe that tiredness alone would account for the dizzy spells.” Fraser said.

Stella sighed. “I appreciate your concern,” she said quietly, “really, I do, but it's been happening for about a week now, since before Ron...before he attacked me. I've just been so worried about what's going to happen. I'm going to lose my job and my reputation and I don't know what to do. I've been worried sick and I haven't been sleeping properly.”

Ray glanced at Fraser. Fraser slowly passed his fingertips over his eyebrow. “Stress could account for these episodes,” he admitted, “but I would still be happier if you visited a doctor. They would run a series of tests, just to rule out anything serious.”

“Fraser's right,” added Ray, “I don't want ya gettin' sick, not now.”

“If it happens again I will,” agreed Stella.

“Greatness,” smiled Ray.

Xxx

As they drove along to Sylvia Tyler's apartment, Fraser was observing Ray with puzzlement. His friend seemed to be buzzing with energy this morning. He had been very pleased to note that Ray and Stella were getting along much better now. They seemed to be able to talk to each other without any snide remarks or comments and that made for a much better atmosphere, which was good for all of them. He was becoming increasingly concerned for Stella's health. If she had become stressed about her current predicament then that could account for feeling light headed, but he wasn't convinced. He and Ray hadn't been at all happy about leaving her alone at the apartment, but they all agreed that she really couldn't come with them so she reluctantly accepted that Diefenbaker would stay with her. Ray wasn't exactly sure what the wolf could do if she was to collapse, but as Stella was too stubborn to let him call someone to stay with her Ray figured Dief was better than nothing.

They had to pass by Tyler's Jewels on the way and as they rounded the corner they saw Ronald Tyler standing outside his shop with another man. As they got closer they realised that the two men appeared to be arguing. Ray glanced at Fraser and pulled over. “Ray,” said Fraser in a low warning voice. This was the first time Ray had seen Tyler since outside the steps of Stella's office and Fraser didn't want Ray to do anything stupid. Ray didn't say anything as he got out of the car and started walking over the the scene. He heard Tyler say 'You keep away from her', but that was all that he could make out. Fraser grabbed his hat from the dashboard and followed his partner. “Good morning gentlemen,” he called out, “is everything alright here?”

Ron Tyler's head snapped round at the sound of Fraser's voice. “Oh Constable,” he said, surprised. “Yes, everything's fine thank you, this gentleman was just leaving.” He sneered at the other man as he spoke.

Ray was about to speak, but then the second man turned round and Ray immediately recognised him. He pulled his badge from his pocket and shoved it in the man's face. “Chicago PD,” he said. “Shouldn't you be in jail?”

“You're out of touch Detective,” replied the man, “I got parole.”

“Get outta here,” Ray snarled and the man willingly complied. Fraser looked to Ray for an explanation, but Ray's tiny shake of the head told him that he would have to wait. Instead Ray turned to Tyler. “Vecchio,” he snapped, “and you already met my partner here.”

“Yes,” nodded Tyler, “Constable Fraser visited yesterday, but I thought I'd already explained to you that I don't wish to press assault charges against Ms Kowalski.”

Ray's whole body tensed and it took every ounce of his self control not to kick Tyler in the head. “Hey, I don't know what, er, what you're talkin' about,” he lied, “we were just passin', thought ya might need a hand with that weasel Brockman.”

“Thank you for your concern Detective,” replied Tyler, “but I made it quite clear to Mr Brockman that I have no desire to do business with him. He's been coming round here for months, ever since he got out of jail, but I will not be intimidated.”

“If you are in need of Police protection Mr Tyler, we can arrange that,” said Fraser and Ray nearly kicked his buddy in the head this time.

“Thank you Constable,” smiled Tyler, “but I can handle him. It irrelevant now anyway, the business is closing down remember?”

“Well if you're sure,” continued Fraser, glancing at Ray and willing him not to explode with rage, “we'll be on our way. Good day to you.” Fraser turned to leave, but realised that Ray wasn't following him. Instead he was just watching Ronald Tyler as the man walked back into his shop. “Ray, Ray, Ray, RAY!”

Ray turned on his heels, his nostrils flaring with anger and stormed back to the GTO, flinging the door open, throwing himself into the driver's seat and slamming the door shut. Fraser got into the passenger seat and placed his hat back on the dashboard, never taking his eyes off Ray. Ray's breathing was coming much heavier now and suddenly he let out a growl and thumped the steering wheel three times. Fraser raised his eyebrows. “Police protection Fraser?” snapped Ray. “What the hell is wrong with you? Let Brockman kill the bastard, I don't give a...”

“Ray,” Fraser interrupted him, “I thought it best to keep the situation calm. Who is Brockman anyway?”

Ray started the engine and pulled back out into the traffic. “He's one of those guys that, er, can get ya anythin' ya want,” explained Ray.

“For a price,” said Fraser understandingly.

“Exactly,” replied Ray, “drugs, weapons...”

“Fake diamonds?” suggested Fraser.

Ray looked at him. “I hadn't thought of that,” he admitted. “Anyway, last I heard he was servin' five years for some fake passport scam. It wasn't my case, but, er, they wanted him for homicide. Two hookers were threatenin' to expose their clients. Big shot politicians, businessmen, creeps like that. Then both girls wound up dead. Everyone knew Brockman was behind it, but then a key witness disappeared and he lawyered up big time so they couldn't pin it on him. There were rumours of a, er, a deal too, someone at the States Attorney's office was in his back pocket I guess? We couldn't do a goddamn thing about it and now he's out. It sucks.”

Fraser took in all the information. “There could be a connection,” he said, slowly tugging at his right ear as he thought, “of course it's purely speculation at this juncture.”

Ray nodded. If he could somehow bring down Brockman in all this that would be the icing on the cake. They arrived at Sylvia's apartment and Ray knocked on the door. “Chicago PD,” he called out abruptly, earning a frown from Fraser.

A woman appeared dressed in some very expensive looking clothes, her neck adorned with jewellery. “Police?” she said, surprised. “Oh, is this about my car? There may have been a misunderstanding,” she said as she ushered them inside.

“We're not here about the car,” Ray explained, after they'd introduced themselves, “but we've got some questions about your ex-husband. Do you know if he ever had any business dealings with Carl Brockman?”

Sylvia looked suddenly pale. “Who?” she asked weakly.

Ray glanced at Fraser. “Er, nobody, doesn't matter,” said Ray.

“We were wondering if you were aware that your husband has been selling fake diamonds,” Fraser said, thinking the best thing would be to ask the question directly.

Sylvia tried to look surprised. “Fake diamonds?” she repeated. “I, er, I wouldn't know anything about that. My husband and I parted on difficult terms Constable. He didn't want to give me half of his business, but my lawyer said I was entitled to it.”

“We've already spoken to your lawyer,” explained Fraser. “We've also spoken to Mr Tyler.”

“Oh,” said Sylvia.

“Look, er, ma'am,” began Ray, “I'm sorry if this is, um, uncomfortable for you, but, er, was your husband ever violent towards you?”

“Ron?” replied Sylvia, raising her eyebrows in surprise. “No, not at all. Ron was a sweetheart really, but he was just so possessive about the business. In the end we wanted different things out of life.”

Fraser and Ray asked a few more questions and then left Sylvia's apartment. As they got back into the GTO, Ray looked across at Fraser. “She was lyin',” he said flatly.

“Indeed,” agreed Fraser, “about Mr Brockman and about her husband.”

“So Tyler's been getting fake diamonds from Brockman and he's, er, been beatin' on his wife too,” said Ray.

“I agree about the violence Ray, however I'm not convinced about Mr Tyler's involvement in the fake diamonds,” replied Fraser, “I still believe that he knows nothing about them.”

“So where does Brockman fit into all this?” asked Ray.

“That's a very good question Ray,” said Fraser, staring out of the window as he tried to piece things together.

“Come on,” said Ray, “let's get back to Stella, I just hope she's OK.”

“I am encouraged that you both seem to be getting along,” noted Fraser.

Ray smiled. “Yeah buddy,” he said, “me and Stell...well, we, um, we sure are gettin' along fine.” Fraser nodded, slightly puzzled by the inflection in Ray's voice. “In fact Fraser,” Ray continued, “I think things are gonna get better now, much better.”

“I see,” Fraser nodded again, although he didn't fully understand.

“Y'know,” said Ray, smiling again, “sometimes it just takes some, er, time apart to make two people realise that perhaps they just can't be apart after all.” Fraser was frowning again now. He was slightly worried at the suggestion Ray was making. “I mean, sure we argued, we argued a lot towards the end, but some things were still good. Dancin', that was good, that was always good.”

Fraser wasn't sure what Ray was saying at all, but he had a bad feeling. “Ray, I know you mentioned that you and Stella danced together the night before last...” began Fraser but before he had a chance to finish his train of thought Ray interrupted him.

“Yeah we did,” smiled Ray, “we danced like we'd never been apart and maybe that's what reminded Stella, y'know, about how good we were together. I mean she was the one doin' all the, y'know, last night I mean.”

Fraser was getting frustrated now. “Ray, I'm sorry, but you're making very little sense. What exactly happened last night...oh,” suddenly it dawned on Fraser. “Ray, did you and Stella...um, that is, did you...” Fraser felt his throat tighten as he spoke and he tugged at the stiff collar of his tunic.

Ray laughed. “Yeah buddy,” he grinned. “It was so good Fraser. Like we'd never been apart, I guess ya never forget somethin' like that right?”

Fraser cleared his throat. “Well, I wouldn't know about that,” he muttered. He took a deep breath. He was quite concerned about Ray now. “Ray, as you know, I've never been married, nor in a long term relationship, however as far as I'm aware, this sort of thing is not uncommon. If two people share a strong history together, it's very easy to fall back into old ways as it were. If I may though, I would advise caution at this juncture. Stella is in a vulnerable state...”

“Fraser!” exclaimed Ray, “I'm not gonna take advantage of her. I love her. This is real, this is, er, how it was always meant to be. I mean, I know it's early days, but I just know Fraser, I just know that we can be good again.”

“I'm sorry Ray,” replied Fraser, passing his thumbnail over his eyebrow, “I didn't mean to insinuate that you were...well, it's just that I...I don't want to see you get hurt...again.”

Ray turned to his buddy and smiled. A huge, warm, genuine smile. “Thanks, I appreciate that buddy, but I know what I'm doin',” he said.

Fraser was about to say something else when Ray's phone rang. Ray fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his phone, flicking it open with one finger and holding it to his ear. “Vecchio,” he snapped. “Oh, er, yeah he's here.” He tossed the phone to Fraser who caught it with one hand. “It's Frannie,” Ray explained.

“Good morning Francesca,” said Fraser into the phone. “I see,” he said after listening to what she had to say. “We'll be right there. Thank you kindly.” He clicked off the phone. “Francesca has some information about Ronald Tyler,” he explained to Ray. “We need to stop in at the station.”

xXx

"I thought you might be interested in this," said Francesca, trying to keep her heart from racing as Fraser looked over her shoulder at the computer screen and she felt his breath on her neck.

"Ronald Tyler was previously married," Fraser said, reading from the screen, "but his first wife died very young."

"Cause of death?" asked Ray.

"Well that's just it," smiled Francesca, "there was an inquest and in the end the ME filed the cause as accidental, but there were all these unexplained injuries. I don't even know what half of this means."

"Hmmm," Fraser scanned down the Medical Examiner's report. "Francesca, could you please print a copy of this report?" Francesca nodded and tapped a few keys on her keyboard, sparking the printer into life.

“I'll discuss this with Mort,” said Fraser, “he may be able to clarify it. Ray, is there any way we could gain access to Sylvia Tyler's medical records?”

“Not without a warrant,” replied Ray, shaking his head.

“Not necessarily,” Francesca spoke quietly, looking nervously over her shoulder.

“No Frannie,” Ray waved his hands determinedly, “not after last time. You're lucky ya still got a job.”

Fraser looked puzzled. “Last time?” he queried.

Ray looked a little sheepish. “I know someone who knows someone, y'know?”

“Not really,” replied Fraser, scratching his eyebrow with his thumbnail.

“You won't like it,” said Francesca. “If it's important, I can be more discreet this time.”

Fraser frowned and looked at Ray. “I have no idea what you're talking about,” he said, “but I have a feeling that's for the best.”

Francesca looked at Ray expectantly. Ray thought for a second, then the image of Stella's battered face flashed into his mind and knew he had to do whatever it took to bring down Tyler. The information about the death of his first wife had set Ray's mind racing and he knew he had to get as much information about this man as he could. Ray nodded to Francesca. “Call me when ya got somethin',” he said.

Fraser and Ray headed down to the morgue with the copy of the Medical Examiner's report on Ronald Tyler's first wife, Miranda. Mort was pleased to see them both, it was a welcome relief from the autopsy he'd been carrying out on a man who'd been killed in the most puzzling of circumstances. Fraser explained the situation and Mort covered the body with a sheet and took the printout from Fraser. “These days there would most certainly be further investigation,” he explained, “but we're talking almost twenty years ago Fraser, things were different then. There was only so much they could determine without the forensic science knowledge we have now.”

“Indeed,” agreed Fraser, “but what do you make of these injuries?” He pointed to a particular section of the report. “The ME concluded that they were made as she fell down the staircase, but the locations of the contusions are inconsistent with falling.”

“You think she was pushed?” asked Ray.

Fraser looked over to his partner, but sighed when he saw Ray standing with his back to them, showing an unnatural interest in a pencil that was lying on the side. “Ray,” he said, “the body is covered over. We're discussing a piece of paper.”

“Oh, er, yeah,” agreed Ray and gingerly turned around.

“I believe Miranda Tyler may have been pushed. Also, I think that some of these other injuries were caused several hours before her death,” Fraser continued. “Modern techniques would have picked up on that as you say Mort. Mr Tyler was interviewed at the time of course, but there was no evidence to suggest he had in any way harmed his wife so no charges were ever brought.”

“So what d'ya think Mort?” Ray asked the older man, “was this a murder?”

“I cannot possibly say for sure,” Mort began, “but if this was my case, I would certainly have carried out further tests on the body to establish the precise timeline of events.”

“I'll talk to Welsh,” Ray said, suddenly getting excited and shifting his weight from one foot to the other and back again. “We'll get this reopened as a homicide case.”

“Ray, wait,” said Fraser, “I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here. I realise that you want to see Tyler punished for what he did to Stella, but...”

“OK Fraser,” Ray jumped in and stopped his partner talking too much in front of Mort. Of course he knew they could trust Mort to keep the situation quiet, but he didn't want everyone finding out about Stella's current predicament.

“Sorry,” mumbled Fraser, admonishing himself for his loose tongue. “We should probably go.” Ray gave his partner a stern look and they headed towards the door.

“Fraser,” Mort called out and they stopped and turned back, “if you have a minute, I'd appreciate your assistance with something.” Mort pulled the green sheet back from the body that was lying on his examination table. Ray immediately covered his mouth with his hands and spun back towards the door again.

Fraser walked back towards Mort. “Of course,” he smiled, always happy to help.

“Take a look at this,” Mort pointed to a rather ugly looking bullet wound in the man's chest. “Cause of death is obvious of course,” continued Mort, “but what is this strange discolouration of the tissue here and here?” Fraser leaned forward and got his face as close to the area as he could, then inhaled deeply through his nose.

“OK Fraser, that's it!” exclaimed Ray, “If you're gonna do that old factory analysis thing again, I'll see ya upstairs,” and he ran out of the morgue before Fraser had a chance to correct his partner's terminology.

Fraser proceeded to identify not only the cause as a rare plant sometimes used in Chinese medicine, but also to advise Mort of the exact circumstances necessary for it to cause such a reaction, thus narrowing down the list of suspects to one. Mort was delighted, as would Detectives Huey and Dewey be when they were able to bring the murderer to justice and, perhaps more importantly to them, get another file off their desk. As Fraser left the morgue he heard Mort humming Bizet's Carmen Overture and smiled to himself. He headed back up the stairs, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the ghost of his father standing in front of him. He sighed. “Hello Dad,” he said. “Do you mind? You're standing in my way.”

“Sorry Son,” replied Bob, stepping to one side and allowing his son to continue climbing the stairs. “I just wanted a quick chat about the Yank.” Bob began to follow Benton now.

“Ray,” corrected Benton forcefully. Why was his father incapable of using Ray's name?

“Yes,” agreed Bob. “Anyway, he's a good man, it would be a shame if a woman were to be his downfall.”

Fraser stopped and spun round to face his father who was one step below him. “Downfall?” he repeated incredulously. “I think you're being a little melodramatic, don't you? Maybe they can work things out?”

“Your Mother and I spoke about divorce once,” announced Bob quietly. Benton's eyes widened in surprise. “I think she even called a lawyer,” Bob continued, “I'm not really sure, I wasn't there, but in the end we decided that we just couldn't be apart.”

Benton swallowed hard. “I'm not sure what to say Dad?” he replied.

“I suppose what I'm trying to say is that some people are meant to be together...” Bob paused for a moment and then added, “and some people aren't.”

Benton sighed. “What can I do Dad? I'm not sure that he'd listen to me anyway. He still loves her and love can make you unhinged, I should know...” his voice trailed off.

“Son, there's nothing you can do,” said Bob, sympathetically, “He's an adult, he's your partner and your friend and you have to respect his decisions.”

“Even if I know he's making the wrong decisions?” asked Benton, hanging his head, “Even if I know he's making a mistake? I'm not sure that he can cope with having his heart broken again Dad, especially not by the same woman.”

“All you can do for him is be there to pick up the pieces,” replied Bob seriously. Benton closed his eyes and took a deep breath, blowing the air out slowly through tightly pursed lips. He knew his father was right. He would be there for Ray, whatever happened because that's what partners did for each other, that's what friends were for.

xXx

That afternoon, at Ray's apartment, Ray called a few of his contacts who he thought may know what Carl Brockman was up to. He got a few pieces of interesting information that he decided needed to be followed up. Stella had been busying herself in the apartment while they'd been out and she had tidied a few things away and made some sandwiches for lunch. The three of them sat and ate the sandwiches, talking about Tyler. Stella was quite shocked at the thought that he could have killed his first wife and subjected Sylvia to violence too. “I don't get why she didn't tell ya when ya were workin' on her divorce?” said Ray.

“Ray, I've seen this before,” explained Stella, “some of these, um, women are too uncomfortable talking about it that they refuse to acknowledge it ever happened.” She was relieved that she'd managed to avoid using the word 'victim'.

Fraser nodded in agreement. “I imagine she just wanted to walk away with what she felt was hers from the marriage and then never have to think about it again,” he said, “she didn't want to face the prospect of testifying against him in a court of law if she pressed charges against him. As we've seen on many occasions Ray, it can be incredibly traumatic for a victim, um, someone who has been on the receiving end of violence to relive that. Especially in such a public arena and particularly if said violence has been prolonged. Vict...er, women in these circumstances, or men for that matter, often mistakenly apportion a certain amount of blame to themselves.”

“Yeah well I just don't get that,” said Ray with a sigh. Fraser was right, it was so hard sometimes when a conviction should be clear cut, but the only witness, the victim themselves, was unwilling to testify.

“Me either,” added Stella, then she added quietly, “but I do understand their point of view.” Fraser smiled supportively at her and Ray reached out and squeezed her hand. Fraser was still getting used to those open displays of affection between Ray and Stella. He was pleased to see that the feelings appeared to be mutual between them, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that Ray was heading for a fall. Then he admonished himself, Ray wasn't stupid, he knew what he was doing. He'd spent the whole time since his divorce trying to get over Stella and on the whole he'd failed dismally at that. Ray was fully aware of his feelings, something that Fraser wished he could be about his own, although it did leave Ray more open to getting hurt. At least the way that Fraser kept his feelings pushed down, buried deep away, he was able to protect himself...at least he was most of the time.

Just then, Ray's phone rang. It was Francesca. Ray walked to the window to take the call as the reception was a little better there. Stella waited until he was out of earshot and then turned to Fraser and spoke in a low voice. "Fraser, is, um, is Ray OK today?"

Fraser nodded, unsure exactly how to answer. "Yes, he's fine. He's keen to bring this Tyler case to an end, particularly in light of the new information."

Stella smiled. "Good," she said and then added, "it's not a case, not an official one though, he does realise that doesn't he?"

"Of course,” replied Fraser, "although if our suspicions about the death of Miranda Tyler and the assaults against Sylvia Tyler prove true, that would be an altogether different matter." He paused for a moment to gauge Stella's reaction. "Are you alright?" Fraser asked her.

Stella's smile waned. "I'm terrified Fraser," she admitted, swallowing hard. "I know that if this does become a murder investigation then everything that I've done will become public knowledge won't it. I've ruined everything I ever worked for," Stella's voice cracked, "Fraser if I hadn't been so focussed on my career maybe I would have noticed what it was doing to my marriage...I might have seen what I was doing to Ray? Now all that could have been for nothing?" A tear escaped and she quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand.

"You don't know any of that for certain," Fraser pointed out, gently, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Ray was still engrossed in his telephone call.

Stella sniffed and nodded. She knew he was right of course, deep down she knew that there was far more to what happened between her and Ray than just her career getting in the way, but it was the most tangible thing, the thing that was easiest to explain. "Ray and I are getting on well now Fraser, really well..." her voice trailed off.

"Er, yes, so I understand," replied Fraser.

Stella looked slightly startled. “He told you?” she whispered.

“Not exactly,” replied Fraser, tugging at his collar with embarrassment. “I mean, that is to say...”

Much to his relief, Stella smiled. “It's OK,” she sighed. “It just felt so right. Being with Ray I mean. You know, I'm going to have to deal with this mess with Ron and I think I'd really like it if I had Ray standing by my side again.” Her smile had completely gone now and she was really fighting to keep her composure. “I thought I was this strong woman, I thought I was tough, but I'm not. I can make mistakes and I can get hurt...” but before she could finish what she was saying Ray came running back to join them, grabbing his gun holster from the back of the chair on the way.

“C'mon Fraser, pitter patter,” he said urgently to Fraser. “Frannie's got copies of Sylvia's medical records. She's, er, she's been hospitalised six times in the past eight years. Two of the doctors lodged official notes that they had concerns for her welfare, but she refused to get the Police involved each time. There's other stuff too, minor injuries, she's been his personal punchbag for years Fraser and now she's protecting him? I, er, I don't get it.”

“We might not get it, as you put it, but we should respect her wishes,” Fraser pointed out, picking up his hat. “We should indeed go and speak to her again, but we can't force her into reporting the incidents. We have procured those private medical records via a source that, at this present juncture, I am choosing not to think about too much and which will undoubtedly cause an issue from a legal standpoint. Additionally of course, too much time has passed, it will be incredibly difficult to bring a prosecution for incidents that occurred so long ago.”

“You know Fraser's right Ray,” Stella added, getting to her feet and following them to the door. “Please Ray, don't do anything stupid, follow procedures. Just be careful.”

“Hey Stell,” Ray's face softened and he brushed her face with the back of his hand. “Don't worry about me. Take care of yourself, I'll call ya, hopefully we can, um, wrap this thing up.”

“I might go into the office for a couple of hours,” said Stella, pulling away from his touch and picking up her purse.

“No way,” said Ray, “ya need to stay here. Fraser, er, back me up on this.” Fraser opened his mouth to speak, but he didn't get the chance.

“Ray, I have a pile of outstanding cases on my desk,” frowned Stella, “you know exactly what that's like.” She raised her eyebrows and shot him a look, but she couldn't hold it for long and instead her mouth twisted into a smile. “I'll take it easy, I promise.”

“OK,” sighed Ray, he knew there was no point arguing with The Stella. “It's on the way to Sylvia Tyler's place, I'll drop ya at the office.”

xXx

Sylvia Tyler was very surprised to see them at her front door only a few hours after their previous visit, but she tried not to let the rising panic show too much. Of course she had no idea how difficult it was to hide anything from Constable Benton Fraser. “We're terribly sorry to trouble you again ma'am,” smiled Fraser as she led them into her apartment, “but some new information has come to light and we have a few more questions for you.”

“Oh,” said Sylvia, quietly, “of course I'll answer any questions you have.” Her mind was racing as she desperately tried to think of a way to avoid answering their questions at all costs.

“Greatness,” replied Ray, keeping his voice as even as he could manage, “in that case, we'd, er, we'd like to know all about the fake diamonds and don't say ya don't know anythin' about them again.”

Sylvia remained silent, but she suddenly became rather pale. She looked away from Ray and closed her eyes. Fraser glanced at Ray, they had to tackle this very carefully. “Sylvia,” he began, gently, “we have reason to believe that your ex-husband has been involved in some violent assaults on women spanning a number of years,” he paused for a moment before adding, “I think you know the types of incident I'm referring to.” Sylvia slowly turned her head to look at him. “Why are you protecting him?” asked Fraser.

Sylvia took a deep breath. “Because I'm greedy,” she half whispered. Ray frowned at Fraser, they were both slightly puzzled by her response. “What kind of woman does that make me?” she said, hanging her head in shame.

“Look, er, I'm sorry,” said Ray, “but I don't understand?”

Sylvia didn't answer. Fraser tried some more gentle probing. He wasn't exactly sure what had happened, but he thought he'd take a guess and see what response it enticed from her. “Sylvia, you arranged for Carl Brockman to provide you with fake diamonds and then sold him the originals didn't you.” It wasn't a wild guess, but an educated one based on everything they'd discovered so far. Ray would probably call it a hunch, but Fraser would soon put him straight on that.

Sylvia drew a sharp breath. She looked from Fraser to Ray and she knew she was defeated. “He kept coming into the shop,” she began, “he kept trying to use us to sell his filthy stolen diamonds. Ron told him we wanted nothing to do with him, we were a respectable family business. Carl had only just got out of prison. He wouldn't take no for an answer though and he kept coming back into the shop when Ron was out. He was very charming Constable, I began to look forward to his visits I'm afraid.” She hung her head again.

“So you agreed to do business with him?” prompted Fraser.

“Not at first,” replied Sylvia, shaking her head, “and I never had anything to do with the stolen goods he wanted us to get involved in. In fact he wasn't coming in as much, I think he'd finally got the message, but then Ron came back one day and he saw Carl talking to me and he went crazy. He threw Carl out of the shop. I was screaming at him to stop, Carl could have killed him, I know he carries a gun.” Sylvia stopped and took another deep breath to steady her nerves, before adding, “Then of course Ron was mad with me.”

“Why didn't ya report it?” asked Ray, “ya put up with it for years. He had no right to beat ya.”

Sylvia looked directly at Ray now. “Because he would have won then,” she half whispered. “I could have walked away, sure I could, but what about the business? I know its his family business but I worked my butt off to keep the place afloat, we would have gone out of business years ago if it wasn't for the work I did. Ron used to bury his head in the sand and pretend it wasn't happening so I invested my own money into refurbishing the shop. I brought in new lines, I organised an advertising campaign. I did all that and I wasn't going to just walk away.” Her voice cracked again. “In the end I couldn't take it any more, I wanted to leave but I wanted what was rightfully mine. After that last time...” she turned away from them now as her composure slipped.

“You asked Carl Brockman to supply you with fake diamonds,” said Fraser as things began to slot into place.

Sylvia nodded. “I tracked him down and we came up with this plan,” she explained, her voice shaky, “I sold him the original pieces and replaced them with the fakes. Carl had a supplier. I didn't ask too many questions. Ron never suspected a thing. Most of our customers were just ordinary people, not experts so they weren't going to know the difference, but I figured if anyone ever found out Ron would get prosecuted. I was going to deny everything and I could always play on the beaten wife thing, that was my plan. I know it was wrong but I wanted to hurt him where it would hurt him most. That business meant everything to him. Anyway, I made a lot of money, I sent it all to my sisters and they've put down a deposit on a place for me in Texas. As soon as I get the rest of my money from the business I'm going to move down there to be with them.”

Ray and Fraser looked at each other. “Are you prepared to make a statement now?” Fraser asked, “We have reason to believe that Ronald has abused other women including his first wife.” He was being very careful about how much he revealed.

“Yes,” replied Sylvia, her voice full of determination now, “yes I am. I can't go on like this. Running away to Texas is not going to help me get over what he's done to me. I don't want him to hurt anyone else like he hurt me.” Suddenly her face crumbled and she wept openly.

“It's alright,” soothed Fraser, “you're doing the right thing. The Chicago PD can help you, there are people who you can talk to about what you've been through.”

Sylvia nodded. “But what about what I did?” she asked, sniffing, “I know Carl is involved in some serious stuff, I've heard rumours, they say he kills people. I'm going to have to pay for what I've done too aren't I? It was fraud. People paid for real diamonds and we sold them fakes. Are you going to arrest me Detective?”

“Not right now. Look, er, they'll take everythin' into account y'know, um, everythin' he did to ya over the years,” Ray tried to reassure her. “If ya can give us anythin' on Brockman too then that'll help ya, we've been tryin' to bring him down for a long time.”

Sylvia began to weep again. “Come with us,” said Fraser softly, “we'll take you to the station and you can make an official statement. I strongly recommend that you seek legal counsel.” He reached out and took her by the elbow to lead her outside, but as soon as he touched her she flinched away. “What is it?” he asked, concerned. Sylvia clutched at her elbow and looked at him with sad eyes. Fraser sighed. “He was here wasn't he,” Fraser glanced at Ray as he spoke. “Show me,” he urged and Sylvia slowly pulled up her sleeve to display a horrifically bruised and swollen elbow.

“He showed up after you left this morning. He knows you're onto him,” said Sylvia, “he thinks I called you, he thinks I finally reported him. I don't know why he would think that? I told him I didn't, I promised him. I told him I just wanted my money and then I'd leave him alone and I think he believed me in the end. I've changed my mind now, but he doesn't know that of course.”

Fraser suddenly felt a sense of dread. He looked at Ray. “If he believed that Sylvia didn't call us, then the only other person who...”

“Stella!” exclaimed Ray before Fraser had a chance to finish. “Come on!” He ran to the door.

“Stella Kowalski? My Attorney?” Sylvia didn't understand.

“Stay here,” Fraser urged Sylvia, “we'll send officers to collect you and take you to the station.” With that he raced after Ray.

xXx

“If he hurts her Fraser,” Ray was breathing rapidly as he raced through the streets with the red light flashing on the dashboard next to Fraser's hat.

“Try to remain calm Ray,” urged Fraser, as he pressed Ray's phone to his ear. He was calling Stella's number, but there was no reply. He shook his head and clicked off the phone. “She may be engrossed in her work,” he suggested. Ray gritted his teeth and jumped another red light.

They raced up the steps and through the revolving door of the States Attorney's office. Ray pressed the button to call the lift, but of course he wasn't going to wait another second so with a swift kick of frustration to the lift doors he headed for the stairs, quickly followed by Fraser and Dief. Stella's office was on the fifth floor and they climbed the stairs, two at a time, startling a young intern who was walking down from a higher floor. Ray and Fraser ran along the corridor, but as soon as they got close enough they realised that Stella's door was wide open. Ray stopped in the doorway, but he couldn't bring himself to go into the office. Fraser stepped in and started looking around. “Her purse is still here,” he said, nodding under Stella's desk, “and her cell phone is here on her desk.” Fraser picked up the phone and glanced at the screen. He noticed that Ray's number was on the screen, but Stella obviously hadn't had a chance to connect the call. “She was trying to call you,” he said and Ray hung his head. Then Fraser noticed the paperwork scattered all over the floor and a pot plant that had been knocked over, spilling the contents onto the carpet. “Ray, there appears to have been a struggle,” he said, willing his partner to hold it together long enough to help Stella.

Ray's mind was racing. “If that bastard hurts her...” he began, almost under her breath.

“I know,” agreed Fraser, trying to keep his own feelings from rising up and Dief barked in agreement. They should have realised that Tyler might do something like this. It was becoming increasingly evident that he had killed his first wife. He picked up the phone and quickly dialled Sylvia Tyler's number to warn her that she could be in danger and to ask if she had any idea where her ex-husband might have gone. Sylvia sounded terrified, but she told him that they had a lock-up in a storage warehouse. She didn't think it had been used for months, but perhaps he could be hiding out there? Fraser thought for a minute. In the absence of any other ideas it seemed that was the best place to start.

They ran back to the car and sped off to the warehouse. Fraser called Francesca to request back up at the warehouse and to put out an alert for Tyler and Stella in case they were heading somewhere else. “Sylvia told me that the squad car had just arrived outside her building,” said Fraser with some relief. He didn't know whether Tyler would go after her too and he didn't want to think they'd put two women in jeopardy. He was feeling guilty enough about Stella as it was, even though she refused to stay at Ray's apartment earlier perhaps he should have been more insistent? Dief whined from the backseat and Fraser turned to look at him. “I hope so,” he said and Ray, who of course hadn't understood Dief's words of encouragement, shuddered at his partner's reply. He hoped for many things, he hoped they wouldn't be too late, he hoped Stella would be OK and he hoped he could kill Ronald Tyler. He rarely had the urge to kill, but this was one of those times and the adrenaline was pumping through his body now. His eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared as he fought to retain control. “Ray...” Fraser spoke in that low warning voice that he had.

“I know buddy,” breathed Ray, his partner always knew what he was thinking these days and most of the time that was greatness, but right now he wished Fraser wasn't burning his way into his head with those blue eyes. “Don't worry, I just wanna find Stella,” Ray tried to reassure him. Fraser nodded and then Ray turned to look at him. “Don't let me do anythin' stupid Fraser,” he said seriously. Fraser gave a single nod of acknowledgement.

xXx

Ray screeched the GTO to a halt outside the storage warehouse and leapt out of the car, slamming the door behind him. Dief and Fraser ran after him. Fraser nodded towards a car that was badly parked outside, it was Tyler's, Ray recognised it from outside the jewellery store earlier. They ran into the premises and straight to the lock-up unit that Sylvia had told them about. Ray banged on the door. “Chicago PD!” he yelled, “open the door Tyler.” There was no response.

Fraser crouched down and ran his finger over the point where the roller door touched the floor and showed Ray his finger. Ray was confused. “Dust,” explained Fraser, “this door hasn't been opened recently, I would suggest this unit hasn't been accessed for approximately five weeks. They must be somewhere else in the building.”

One by one they began to check every lock-up along the corridor, but there was no sign of Tyler or Stella. Suddenly Dief barked and ran off ahead. They followed him back down the stairs to ground level and along another corridor that opened out into a large open storage area. Ray went to continue running, but Fraser held him back. He nodded towards two large metal crates that were stacked to one side, Ray immediately saw the toe of a boot protruding slightly and nodded back. He pointed one way and Fraser pointed the other and they slowly approached the crates from opposite directions. As soon as they were in position, Ray kicked the crates and the resulting noise echoed around the warehouse, startling Ronald Tyler who was cowering in the darkness. Ray aimed his gun at Tyler's head. “Chicago PD! Hands behind your head and get up slowly,” he instructed, but Tyler panicked and tried to scramble away, only to be met by a firm Mountie hand on his shoulder.

Fraser dragged the man to his feet and brought him out into the light. Ray still had his gun trained at the man's head. “Where is she?” Ray shouted, but Tyler was too scared to answer. Ray moved even closer and pressed the barrel of his gun to Tyler's forehead. “What have ya done with Stella?”

Tyler glanced at Fraser, completely terrified now. “If I were you I would furnish the detective with the information he requested,” said Fraser calmly, looking fleetingly at Ray.

“She...she's...in one of the lock-ups,” Tyler replied, as they heard the sirens of their back up arriving.

“Which one?” Ray yelled, but Tyler just shrugged, “what number? Have you hurt her? If you've hurt her...”

“Ray,” Fraser interrupted him, “perhaps you should place him under arrest and we can go and find Stella.”

Ray's breathing was rapid now, he gritted his teeth, barely hanging on to his self control. He could feel Fraser's eye's burning into him again, but he just wanted to pull the trigger. He would have been quite happy at that moment to kill this man for what he'd done, but something was stopping him. Something had frozen his finger in position. Maybe Fraser had some sort of crazy Mountie power over him, or maybe it was just his conscience, but either way he couldn't do it and in the end Ray let out a loud growl of frustration. “Get on your knees, you're under arrest,” he said, kicking Tyler's feet out from underneath him, causing the man to fall hard onto the floor as Ray handcuffed him and read him his Miranda Rights.

“Dief watch him,” Fraser instructed and the wolf stood eye to eye with Tyler, baring his teeth. Fraser ran off towards the back of the building, knowing there were more lock-up units on this level that they hadn't searched and Ray re-holstered his gun and set off after him, but before they'd even got out into the corridor they were both completely stunned by the sound of two gunshots.

Fraser spun round and saw the bloodstained body of Ronald Tyler slumped on the floor, with a startled Dief standing over him. Fraser looked at Ray, for one horrifying split second he thought that his friend had shot Tyler after all, but Ray raised his hands in the air. “Wasn't me buddy,” he said, pointing to his weapon which was safely stowed in its holster.

Fraser breathed a sigh of relief and ran back to the scene, getting down on one knee and checking Tyler's neck for a pulse. He looked up a Ray and shook his head. “He's dead,” he announced, then he turned his attention to Diefenbaker. “You alright?” he asked the wolf, ruffling his ears. Dief yapped a response and a small smile flickered at the corner of Fraser's mouth as he got to his feet and began looking around for any sign of the shooter.

Ray barely managed to prevent himself from expressing his enormous pleasure at the turn of events, but he knew Stella was still missing and now the only man who knew where she was, was lying dead on the cold concrete floor. He turned and kicked over a nearby empty metal shelving unit in frustration, sending it clattering to the ground. Fraser was about to say something to Ray about trying to stay focussed, when a movement caught his eye from the mezzanine floor that overlooked the scene. He squinted into the shadows. “Sylvia?” he said in disbelief. The shadowy figure disappeared into the darkness and Fraser's acute hearing picked up the footsteps of a woman running away.

“Can't blame her,” noted Ray and Fraser nodded. “I'll find Stella,” continued Ray urgently, “you get Sylvia.”

“Understood,” replied Fraser and he ran up the steps to the mezzanine level with Dief close behind as Ray ran off down the corridor.

Ray began desperately searching all the lock-up units in the building. He didn't waste time checking the dust on the floor first, instead kicking in the doors or shooting the locks, whatever it took to get inside, but he didn't find Stella. He called out her name a few times, but there was no reply. He turned a corner and came to another locked door with 'Office Staff Only' embossed on a metal plaque on the front. She was in there, he just knew she was. “Stella!” he called out again. He tried the door but it was locked. He kicked it hard and it began to give way, so Ray threw all his weight at it and it burst open sending him stumbling into the dimly lit room. He heard a muffled scream from the corner of the room and Ray's heart skipped a beat as he saw Stella, bound, gagged and blindfolded, sitting on the floor. “It's OK, it's me Stella, it's Ray,” he said, running across the room and throwing himself to his knees beside her. He recognised the flowery material tied tightly around her mouth as the silk scarf that she had been wearing earlier and he reached out to pull it away. Stella flinched at his touch. He could see new bruises on her face and neck and he felt sick. Even though the guy was dead...Ray shook that thought from his head, trying to concentrate on helping Stella. “It's OK,” he repeated, trying to reassure the trembling woman, “I'm gonna take these off, you're safe now, I'm here.” Ray's hands were shaking as he untied the scarf and the filthy rag that had been tied round her eyes.

Stella blinked deeply as the blindfold fell to the floor. “Ray,” she whispered. Ray tried to smile at her as he untied her hands and feet and she fell into his warm embrace. “I was so scared,” she sobbed into his shoulder.

Ray held her tightly. “Ssshhh,” he soothed, “you're OK, I've got ya now, I'm so sorry,” Ray was fighting his own tears. “I should have protected ya,” he whispered.

Stella pulled away from him slightly. “No Ray, it wasn't your fault,” she said.

Ray tried to smile, but he was finding it difficult. “He's dead, Tyler's dead,” he thought she'd want to know. Stella looked at him in disbelief. “Sylvia shot him,” he added by way of explanation. Stella was stunned. She didn't know what to think. Ron Tyler had hurt so many people, but...no, her head hurt too much to think about it right now.

Just then, Fraser and Dief appeared at the doorway, Fraser slumping against the door frame with relief at seeing Stella alive and well. “Sylvia ran outside, Officers Collins and Perez have her now,” he said, running over to them and helping Ray get Stella to her feet. He was dismayed to see her new injuries too. “Are you alright?” he asked.

Stella nodded. “Yes, I think so,” she replied, gingerly.

“The ambulance has just arrived, the paramedics should take a look at you,” Fraser continued and Stella, somewhat reluctantly, nodded in agreement as they slowly began walking across the room to the door, but before they got there Stella suddenly screamed in pain and collapsed on the floor, bending double and clutching her arms tightly around herself.

“Stella!” Ray's voice rose almost an octave with panic as he fell to the floor beside her. “What is it? What did he do to you?” Ray tried to hold her still so that Fraser could examine her, but Stella was writhing in agony and gasping for breath, then they saw all the blood.

Fraser urgently tore open her clothes searching for a stab wound, something deep that would account for the blood, but all he saw was more bruising. For a moment he was utterly bemused, but then suddenly he realised what had happened. “Ray, get the paramedics in here now!” he said, trying to keep the panic from his voice, but Ray picked up on it anyway and he was paralysed by fear. “Hurry!” Fraser yelled at his partner and it was enough to snap Ray into action.

xXx

Fraser quietly closed the door of Stella's hospital room and crossed the corridor to where Ray was sitting with his head in his hands. He'd been sat in virtually the same position for hours and Fraser was worried about him. He sat down in the chair next to his partner and Ray turned his head slightly to look at his buddy. “She's asleep again,” Fraser explained, “they increased the dosage of her pain relief medication, unfortunately she's still in rather a lot of discomfort.” He waited for Ray to speak, but Ray remained silent, although his moist eyes gave away his feelings. “Are you alright?” Fraser asked softly. Ray just shrugged and returned to staring at the floor. Fraser slowly coated his lower lip with his tongue and put his hand supportively on Ray's back. “She's alright,” he said reassuringly. “You heard her doctor. She should make a full recovery.”

“How could she not have known?” Ray said, his voice barely a whisper. “How could she not have known she was pregnant?”

“She mistakenly attributed her symptoms to anxiety,” Fraser tried to explain. “The pregnancy was still in the first trimester, it was an easy mistake to make. I certainly never suspected it when she was having dizzy spells.”

“She nearly died Fraser,” Ray's voice cracked as he spoke.

“Ray, the violent physical trauma that she suffered today triggered the miscarriage and unfortunately led to severe obstetric haemorrhaging,” Fraser explained gently, knowing that Ray was finding it difficult to hear the details, but that he needed to understand what had happened. “She lost a lot of blood, but her doctor is confident that there's no permanent damage.” Ray wasn't really taking in any of the information, Fraser could see that he was in shock, but sitting out here wasn't doing him any good, or Stella for that matter. “Perhaps you could go and sit with her for a while, I'm sure she'd rather have you in there than me,” Fraser suggested.

Ray sat upright and looked directly at his partner, wiping the tears from his eyes. He shook his head. “Can't,” he sniffed, then he let out a frustrated grunt. “I don't even know why I'm doing this? Why, um, why am I so upset?” he shrugged. “I mean, she didn't even want a, er, a kid? She sure as hell didn't want Tyler's kid? I bet she's not freakin' out about losing a baby she never wanted in the first place.”

“Ray,” began Fraser, “you know it's not quite that simple. Stella is going to experience some sense of loss. Her emotions will be in turmoil. She is going to need your support.” Fraser paused for a moment and Ray nodded slowly. He knew he had to be strong for Stella, but right at this moment he was failing dismally. “Ray,” continued Fraser, “if you don't mind me saying, I think you know that it's not the loss of this baby that has upset you so much.”

Ray closed his eyes. He knew what Fraser was going to say and he didn't want to hear it. Ray knew that his head was full of thoughts of what might have been, about the family he never had with Stella. “Leave it Fraser,” he hissed.

“Understood.” Fraser got up from the chair. “Coffee?” he asked, but then he noticed the last cup he'd got for Ray stood untouched on the floor by his chair, cold now of course. “Perhaps something to eat then?” Ray shook his head, but Fraser went to the vending machine anyway, returning minutes later with a fresh cup of coffee and a sandwich. He placed them on the chair next to Ray. “I'm going to go and sit with Stella again,” said Fraser, “as the nurse suggested, she shouldn't wake up alone.” He waited a moment, giving Ray the opportunity to say that he would sit with her after all, but Ray said nothing.

Fraser understood why Ray was finding this so hard, but he hoped that his partner could put his own feelings aside for Stella's sake. Stella losing her unborn child today had reawakened all of Ray's feelings about her not wanting to have his children. It was probably the biggest thing in their marriage that they couldn't overcome. Ray wanted a family and Stella didn't so of course there was no compromise, one of them simply couldn't have what they wanted and that one was Ray. Ray couldn't forgive Stella for taking that opportunity away from him, no matter how much he still loved her. Fraser sighed and headed across to Stella's door, but just as he opened it he heard Ray's voice. “Fraser,” he called out quietly, “tell her I'm sorry.”

xXx

Stella slowly opened her eyes and blinked. “Ray?” she croaked, but as her eyes focussed she realised it was Fraser sat in the chair next to her bed, just as he had been when she fallen into a morphine assisted sleep.

“Ray's, um, he's...” Fraser didn't quite know what to tell her.

“He can't face me can he,” said Stella, letting out a slow sigh as the fog cleared from her mind.

“He is very worried about you,” Fraser said, deflecting her direct question.

“It's alright Fraser,” whispered Stella, “I understand why. Just tell him that I'm OK. I'm fine. I was offered counselling you know,” she added, “I refused.”

“Was that wise?” asked Fraser.

Stella looked straight into his eyes. “I would have had a termination if I'd known,” she said seriously. Fraser nodded. He knew that already. “I'm not heartless Fraser,” Stella continued, her voice cracking slightly, “people think I'm cold, but I'm not.”

“I know,” replied Fraser with half a smile.

Stella bit hard on her lower lip, desperate to stay in control. “It's just that I'm afraid that if I allow myself to feel...I'm scared that if I let myself...do you have any idea what I'm trying to say?”

“More than you know,” replied Fraser, rubbing at his eyebrow. He knew exactly what she was talking about. He fought hard every day to keep all of his emotional barriers in place, he rarely allowed his feelings to come to the fore and many people misinterpreted that and thought he was uptight and unemotional. He only allowed a few people to see his true feelings, only a few people truly understood who he was. Ray was one of those people.

“I do know how to love,” Stella was becoming really upset now. “It was so good to start with, being with Ray I mean, but our marriage was so destructive...for both of us. Do you have any idea what's it's like to be in love with someone who is so wrong for you? It hurts so much...” Fraser of course knew more than anyone what that felt like. Stella wiped away the tears that had started to roll down her face and Fraser got up from the chair and walked over to the bed. He didn't think she should be getting this upset at the present juncture. She was still very weak and in a lot of pain. “I never meant to hurt Ray,” Stella continued, “I really didn't, but I can't change the way I am. Not every woman wants a baby Fraser.”

“Sshhh, Stella, it's alright,” said Fraser, soothingly, “just rest now.” Stella took some deep breaths and tried to adjust her position slightly as she'd slipped down the pillows in her sleep, but as she moved she felt a twinge and let out a yelp of pain. Fraser gently squeezed her shoulder. “Are you alright?” he asked, “shall I call the nurse?”

Stella shook her head. “I'm just a little uncomfortable like this, can you help me please?” she asked him. She hated asking anyone for help with anything.

“Of course,” agreed Fraser and he leaned over and gently draped her arms around his neck. “Relax,” he urged and he supported her back with one hand while he plumped up the pillows with the other. “There,” he said, carefully laying her back against the pillows, but Stella didn't take her arms from round his neck. “Stella?” he said quietly, but then he felt her bury her head into his shoulder and realised she was weeping silently. He gently sat on the edge of the bed and held her while she cried.

xXx

Ray moved into Stella's apartment when she was released from hospital. There was no discussion about it, he just did it anyway. Fraser noticed that he'd only taken one bag of clothes, so he assumed that Ray's theory was that this was a short term arrangement, just while Stella was recuperating. He hoped that was Ray's plan anyway. He tried to discuss it with his partner on the second day, but was met with a snippy answer from Ray, so he thought it was best to leave things alone for now. Instead he filled his partner in with the current situation regarding Sylvia Tyler. “She's going to plead guilty of course,” Fraser explained, “but the years of abuse will be taken into account. In addition, I believe she has agreed to testify against Carl Brockman. All this will go in her favour when it comes to sentencing. At the present juncture there is a strong possibility that Brockman will also be charged with the double homicide from last year, following recent events a new witness has come forward, one of his associates.”

Ray nodded. That was all good news, but his mind wasn't really on Sylvia Tyler at all, or even Carl Brockman. His head was spinning with thoughts of being here with Stella. It felt so comfortable, so familiar, but he'd only brought one bag of clothes and for some reason he knew that there was no point going back to his apartment to pack another one. Ray was going to stay here with Stella as long as he could, as long as she needed him and if that was a week or a month it didn't matter. When she didn't need him any more he would go home and it would be over...again. He shoved that thought back out of his mind.

They'd been sleeping in the same bed, but really that was only so that Ray could help with the nightmares, nothing more. Part of Stella hated Ray seeing her so vulnerable, screaming and losing control in the middle of the night, but another part of her wouldn't have wanted it any other way. She needed Ray to hold her while she shook the images of Ronald Tyler beating and kicking her from her head. Last week, at Ray's apartment, they'd shared a night of incredible passion. They'd both thought about doing it so many times since the end of their marriage and there had been several opportunities, but they'd always decided against it, knowing that they'd regret it in the morning. This time there had been no regrets. Somehow last week it had just felt right. Sex with Ray had always been good, but last week was probably the best night they'd ever had. Stella knew that it would be their last. She had a feeling that Ray knew it too.

On the third day, while Ray was in the kitchen trying to follow a recipe that Fraser had given him for chicken in a cream sauce Stella was on the phone to an old colleague. The sauce wasn't quite going to plan, but Ray was persevering. “Was that Kerry Sullivan?” he asked Stella as she clicked off the phone.

“Yes,” replied Stella, “I haven't spoken to her for years, I got her number from Jim. She runs a victim support charity and Jim said she's always looking for volunteers so I thought I'd put may name down. Legal advice, you know, maybe a couple of hours a week.”

“That's good,” smiled Ray, walking over to join her.

“Well, I guess I figured, after everything that's happened...” Stella paused to take a breath, “I mean, I know my experience was nothing like Sylvia Tyler's, she suffered in silence for years, but now I have some idea what it's like to be a...to be a...”

“A victim?” prompted Ray.

Stella nodded. “Yes Ray,” she agreed, “I am a victim of violent abuse and I'm not ashamed of that any more. If I can use my experience to help other victims, then at least some good will come of it.” Ray planted a kiss on her cheek.

By day four, the strain was beginning to show. Fraser had been calling round every day to bring groceries as Ray was refusing to leave Stella alone for a minute and also to keep Ray updated with various outstanding cases. “Ray, why don't you take Diefenbaker for a walk?” Stella suggested as soon as Fraser arrived.

Ray was a little puzzled. “Er, but he's just walked all the way here from the Consulate with Fraser?” he replied, looking to his buddy for back up.

“Ray, you need to get outside,” Stella insisted, “you've been stuck in here with me for days, go and take some exercise. Am I right Fraser?”

Fraser ignored the glare Ray was giving him. “Indeed you are Stella,” he said, “I'll stay here Ray, Dief could always do with extra hunting practice, why don't you take him over to the park?” Dief whined but Fraser glared at him. This was the least the wolf could do for Ray, considering the amount of doughnuts the detective usually slipped him when he thought his partner wasn't looking. Dief reluctantly barked in agreement and walked to the door.

Ray slumped his shoulders in defeat. He knew there was no point in arguing with all three of them. “OK Dief,” he said, grabbing his coat, “c'mon, see if ya can hunt a hot dog stand.” Fraser rolled his eyes as they left.

“Thank you,” said Stella quietly, “he's driving me mad Fraser.”

“He's just trying to help,” Fraser pointed out.

Stella nodded. “I know,” she replied, “but is that it? I mean, I don't know what else he's thinking Fraser? I'm so grateful for him staying here with me, of course I am, but...” her voice trailed off.

“He only packed one bag,” Fraser pointed out and Stella nodded and smiled. “How are you anyway?” Fraser asked deliberately changing the subject.

“I'm fine thank you,” she replied, “I'm feeling a lot better actually. I'm going into the station later to swear my statement,” she added, hanging her head.

Fraser put a supportive hand on her shoulder. “Actually, I spoke to Lieutenant Welsh this morning,” Fraser told her, “he advised that you'd already discussed your statement with him.”

Stella nodded. “Yes,” she said, “I told him everything. All of it. He was very understanding. I also spoke with my co-worker, Brian Statham. He's a good man, he was very supportive actually, we discussed things at great length. He wants to find a way to stop everything coming out at Sylvia's trial.”

“I discussed the same thing with Lieutenant Welsh,” Fraser admitted. “Ronald Tyler is dead, he's not the one standing trial and Sylvia's defence of diminished responsibility following years of abuse at his hands is a strong one. I'm not sure that your romantic relationship with Tyler has any relevance to Sylvia's case?”

Stella smiled warmly at him. “Brian said much the same thing,” she told him, “but I'm surprised at you Fraser? I thought you didn't lie.”

“I can assure you that I'm not encouraging you to lie on the witness stand Stella,” replied Fraser, “if you are asked a direct question in court...”

“It's OK,” Stella interrupted him, laughing, “I know what you meant and I appreciate what everyone is trying to do for me. Welsh said they are hoping to be able to arrest Carl Brockman and charge him with those murders. I really hope some good comes of all this and I hope that Sylvia gets the help she needs too. To be honest Fraser, after everything that's happened, I think if it all comes out now, I won't really care.”

“Listen to Assistant States Attorney Statham,” Fraser said encouragingly, “don't do anything you don't have to do.”

Stella nodded. “You and Ray have been so good to me,” she said suddenly, surprising Fraser with a hug. “I don't know what I'd have done without you through all this. I, um, I think I may have been wrong about you in the past. I'm sorry.”

“No need to apologise,” replied Fraser, “to be honest, I think I may have been wrong about you too and it's not often I have cause to say that.”

Stella released him from her arms and laughed. “Did I fool the Mountie?” she asked with a grin.

“A little,” admitted Fraser, smiling.

“Fraser,” Stella's face was serious again now. “Can I ask you to do me one more favour?” she asked.

“Anything,” replied Fraser. He had a feeling he knew what she was going to say. He was right.

“Please look after Ray for me,” she half whispered.

xXx

Five days later it was all over. Ray dragged his bag forlornly along the hallway to his apartment, but as he rounded the corner, a flash of red caught his eye. He stopped in his tracks and looked up at Fraser who appeared to be standing guard outside Ray's apartment with Dief sitting at his feet. “How did you you know?” Ray asked quietly.

Fraser left his post and walked over to Ray, picking up his friend's bag and throwing it over his shoulder. “Stella called me,” he explained and he placed his hand in the small of Ray's back and led him into his apartment.

Ray slammed the door behind them and threw his keys on the side. “I've lost her,” he half whispered. Then he sighed a huge sigh and looked at Fraser. “Who am I tryin' to kid? I lost her years ago.” Ray waited for Fraser to say something in response, but Fraser knew that there was nothing he could say at this moment that would make Ray feel any better so he remained silent. Ray closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead forcefully with the palm of his hand. “Um, tea?” he asked.

“Thank you,” nodded Fraser and he watched as his partner walked slowly into the kitchen, his shoulders hunched and his breathing becoming shallower. “Ray...” Fraser began.

“Don't,” replied Ray, his voice cracking as he filled the kettle and searched his cupboards for Fraser's tea, slamming all the doors. “I knew this was coming, I knew it all along Fraser, I'm not er, that damaged.” He tapped the side of his head angrily with two fingers and Fraser frowned. He hated it when Ray said that. “It's just that, I dunno, somewhere in the back of my stupid brain I, er, I thought that....” Ray sighed and he clenched his teeth hard, fighting the emotions, “I thought, after everythin' that's happened, I thought maybe, just maybe...” Ray couldn't talk any more and he turned away from Fraser.

“I'll take this into your room,” Fraser said, picking up Ray's back and heading towards the bedroom, allowing Ray a moment of privacy. He put the bag on the floor, but then he heard an almighty crash. He ran back out of the bedroom just in time to see Ray hurl a second cup at the wall, the shattered pieces joining those of the first one on the floor. Then Ray covered his face with one hand and two sobs rose up and he shuddered as he tried to stop them.

Fraser glanced at Dief. They'd been here before and Fraser knew what he had to do. He walked to Ray and placed his hand on the centre of his friend's back, making small circling movements as Ray completely broke down, eventually pulling Ray into a hug as he seemed so lost at that moment that Fraser didn't know what else to do.

xXx

EPILOGUE

 _(Almost three years later...)_

“Ray please hold still, I cannot tie a bow tie if you keep moving,” Fraser sighed as he fumbled with the silk.

“Sorry Benny,” Ray Vecchio grinned at his best friend, his best man. “Maybe the bow tie was a mistake? Perhaps we should have gone for cravats after all? I feel like a waiter, not a bridegroom.”

Just then the door burst open. “Vecchio, Stella's Dad just called, they're, um, leavin' the hotel now. C'mon hurry up. Surely ya learnt by now that you, er, you do not keep The Stella waitin'? Especially not on her weddin' day!” Ray Kowalski was hopping anxiously from one foot to the other as he spoke.

“Relax Kowalski,” Ray Vecchio smiled, “we're almost done now, right Benny?”

“Indeed,” agreed Fraser.

“You're meant to be an usher Kowalski,” added Ray, “Go and usher something.” Ray Kowalski sneered at him and left.

“Dief, do you have the rings?” asked Fraser.

Ray Vecchio's jaw nearly hit the floor. “You gave the rings to the wolf?” he exclaimed, but then a huge grin spread across his face as he saw Fraser chuckling to himself. “Very funny Benny,” he said. Fraser patted his jacket pocket and Ray breathed a huge sigh of relief.

“Are you ready?” Fraser asked seriously. He wasn't just asking about his bow tie this time, he was talking about the prospect of getting married again. Fraser had had some reservations when Ray Vecchio, his other best friend and former partner, had told him that he and Stella were moving to Florida together, but he had to admit that his concerns were unfounded as they had both made each other very happy. Ray Vecchio had softened Stella slightly, allowed her to be herself more and Stella was so good for Ray, he needed someone like her to spar with occasionally. They argued, but they always made up and the making up was really good. They both deserved some happiness in their lives and Fraser couldn't be more pleased for both of them now they had decided to put the pain of their respective divorces behind them and get married.

“Sure I'm ready,” grinned Ray.

The Florida weather was perfect for the outdoor wedding and Stella looked beautiful in her designer dress. As they exchanged their vows Fraser could see in their eyes that they had something special. It reminded him of the way Ray Kowalski and Fraser's sister Maggie looked at each other these days. They'd been together for a while now and while there was no talk of marriage yet, he knew that Ray was so happy with her and she felt the same. Perhaps getting married was not the right thing for Ray and Maggie, not yet. Ray had been hurt so much by what happened with Stella that it would take time, but Maggie was doing an amazing job of healing him. The time came for Ray Vecchio to kiss his new bride and Fraser turned slightly nervously to Ray Kowalski who was sitting beside him, but then he saw something in Ray's eyes that he'd never seen before. Fraser realised at that moment that Ray had finally put the ghost of his failed marriage behind him and found some peace. Ray smiled at his buddy. “Look how happy she is,” he smiled, “all I ever wanted was for her to be happy.”

THE END


End file.
